LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s Public Health official said Monday that five more cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the county, with one of them being a Lake County Jail inmate.
Dr. Gary Pace said the test results came in over the weekend.
The newest positive tests mean that the number of COVID-19 cases reported in Lake County has quadrupled over the past month.
All five of the new cases are stable, and four are isolating at home, Pace said.
The fifth is a jail inmate, the second inmate to have been found with the virus over the past month, as Lake County News has reported.
Lake County now has 12 active cases, and one previously-identified case has grown sicker and is hospitalized, according to the Public Health COVID-19 dashboard. That brings Lake County’s overall case hospitalization total to three.
Fourteen cases to date have recovered and no deaths have occurred, Public Health reported.
Approximately 2,082 tests have been conducted and 67 test results are pending, the dashboard showed.
Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the newly confirmed COVID-19 inmate – along with every inmate who had direct contact with this inmate – is in isolation.
Paulich said all staff and inmates who had direct contact with that inmate and were willing have been tested and the sheriff’s office is expecting to receive those results on Tuesday.
“We are continuing to conduct surveillance testing of staff and inmates,” Paulich said.
Paulich said the sheriff’s office is working with the jail medical provider and Public Health to remove the affected inmates from medical isolation per Centers for Disease Control recommendations based on a “symptom-based strategy.”
On March 12, the sheriff's office instituted and continues enhanced measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the jail, including suspending jail programs and modified visitation procedures, screening all staff prior to entry to the facility, placing inmates who are in custody for minor offenses on home detention, enhanced medical screening at booking, wearing of face masks by staff and inmates, designating bed spaces for isolation and quarantine, and comprehensive regular cleaning and disinfecting.
Overall to date, 28 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Lake County. However, Pace said Lake County's current caseload now stands at 26. He said that's because two of the patients previously identified in Lake County returned to their home county, where their cases will now be recorded.
Pace said most of the recently identified cases appear to be clearly connected to a previously known case. Others contracted COVID-19 outside of Lake County. “Investigations and contact tracing are ongoing, but there remains no evidence of significant community transmission.”
Pace said that, to protect the identities of the affected individuals, no further information will be released at this time. “We can appreciate there is public interest in additional details, and when we reach 50 cases, we will begin sharing demographic information.”
As for the status of the county’s efforts to reopen, Pace said to this point the health systems have been able to manage and contain the cases as they have emerged.
“Therefore, the plan remains to allow indoor dining to resume at Lake County restaurants this Thursday, June 4. If the number of cases rises significantly, we may have to slow the opening process down,” Pace said.
“People’s willingness and ability to continue to practice social distancing and comply with masking requirements will have a significant effect on the rate at which COVID-19 spreads. As long as it stays at a manageable level, we can continue to move forward with gradual relaxation of the restrictions,” Pace added.
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. – The Lakeport City Council will discuss the new fiscal year budget when it meets this week.
The meeting will take place via webinar beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 2.
To speak on an agenda item, access the meeting remotely here or join by phone by calling 213-929-4221 or toll-free, 866-952-8437. The access code is 706-076-643; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . To give the City Clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments prior to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2.
Please indicate in the email subject line "for public comment" and list the item number of the agenda item that is the topic of the comment. Comments that read to the council will be subject to the three minute time limitation (approximately 350 words). Written comments that are only to be provided to the council and not read at the meeting will be distributed to the council prior to the meeting.
The main item on Tuesday’s agenda is the consideration of the recommended 2020-21 budget, which will be presented by Finance Director Nick Walker.
The document, which can be seen here, shows revenue projections of $5.2 million for 2020-21, down by $1 million from the revenue actuals for 2019-20.
It also shows projected expenditures in the coming fiscal year of just over $6 million, up from the $5.5 million reported for the current fiscal year.
The city has had several years of fiscal surpluses. The current fiscal year also has a projected surplus of $718,000, while a $851,630 deficit is anticipated in the 2020-21 fiscal year.
On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the special meetings on May 18, 19, 26 and 27, and the regular meeting of May 19; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the Mendocino Complex fire; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the February 2019 storms; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the October 2019 public safety power shutoff; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the COVID-19 public health emergency; approve application 2020-013 for the Tuesday Farmer’s Market in Library Park, contingent on Health Department approval and staff recommendations; authorize the city manager to sign purchase order with Arrow Fence for the purchase and installation of the chain link security fence at the new police department, and to authorize the purchase and installation of the electrical work, IPROX reader and Honeysuckle vines; approve and authorize the city manager to execute a professional services agreement with Miskis Services for installation of a sewer liner as proposed; approve the side letter agreement with Unrepresented Employees Compensation and Benefits Program adopted March 6, 2018; receive and file the Illegal Fireworks Police Operation Plan; approve and authorize the city manager to execute a service agreement with the Local Government Commission for CivicSpark Fellow for project year 2020-21; approve Amendment No. 4 to the agreement for services between the city of Lakeport and Margaret Silveira, dated Oct. 18, 2016; adopt a resolution accepting acquisition of the property located at 800 N. Main St. in Lakeport and authorizing the city manager to execute documents related thereto.
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 a selection of dogs including young huskies waiting for new homes.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Chihuahua, German Shepherd, husky and pit bull.
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”).
Because the shelter in place order remains in effect, 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.
Female Chihuahua
This female Chihuahua has a short tan coat.
She has been spayed.
She’s in kennel No. Q1, ID No. 13659.
‘Lady’
“Lady” is a female pit bull mix with a short tan coat.
She has been spayed.
She is in kennel No. 22, ID No. 13703.
Female Chihuahua
This female Chihuahua has a short black coat with white markings.
She is in kennel No. 25, ID No. 13686.
Female husky
This young female husky has a medium-length black and cream coat and blue eyes.
She is in kennel No. 27, ID No. 13707.
‘Luna’
“Luna” is a young female husky with a medium-length gray and white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 13540.
Male German Shepherd
This young male German Shepherd has a fully brown and black coat.
He is in kennel No. 31, ID No. 13706.
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.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has identified a Clearlake man killed Sunday night when his bicycle was hit by a vehicle.
Lt. Corey Paulich said the bicyclist was Michael Dale Anthony Everson, 20.
Everson was killed in a crash with a vehicle that occurred at about 10:40 p.m. Sunday at Highway 53 and Dam Road, said Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White.
White said that his agency was assisted in the investigation by the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office.
Authorities have so far not released the findings of their investigation into the crash or what led to it.
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.
Jeb Barnes, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and Thomas F. Burke, Wellesley College
Superficially, this standoff seems like another example of Washington’s toxic politics, where hope for any legislation rests on crass political trades among bickering partisan factions.
Our research, though, indicates there’s more to this struggle than just partisan politics. American ambivalence about government has left litigation to play an outsized role in responding to crises like this one. Including protections for businesses against lawsuits alongside a new aid package might make sense.
But research shows that litigation is an expensive, haphazard way to handle injury claims. Legal action can drive some businesses into bankruptcy while leaving many victims without the money and damages they sought. Studies of the personal injury system suggest that for every dollar the injured recover, another dollar is spent on lawyers and lawyering.
Although only a small number of cases have been filed so far, the coronavirus pandemic seems likely to replicate this pattern.
At this early stage, class action lawsuits are pending against cruise ships on the grounds that they negligently exposed passengers to the virus and, in some cases, prevented them from seeking treatment. Prisons and nursing homes, where many have died as a result of COVID-19, face similar suits.
Consumers are suing airlines, colleges and universities, ticketing agencies and others for refunds. Bankruptcies – another kind of litigation – are reportedly on the rise, and many more will surely follow, as businesses collapse under the weight of stay-at-home orders and people with no or limited insurance face crushing medical bills.
While conservatives like McConnell and his fellow party members have legitimate concerns about the potential costs of litigation, they’re wrong about why litigation happens in the first place. They tend to attribute surges of litigation to a kind of character defect: Americans, they contend, have become whiny victims who, urged on by greedy lawyers, sue at every opportunity.
And even when a majority of Americans favor expanding government, our fragmented lawmaking process, in which bills must pass through multiple committees and two chambers of Congress and be signed by the president, provide repeated opportunities for special interest groups to block sweeping reforms.
This leaves those in distress to pursue help where they can find it, in the legal system.
Asbestos cases: 730,000 claims in US, only 10 in Netherlands
Consider the asbestos crisis. Asbestos is a “magic mineral,” which is flexible enough to be woven into cloth yet stronger than steel. After World War II, manufacturers used it in everything from hair driers to automobile brakes to ship boilers.
The problem is that exposure to asbestos can be deadly, causing fatal diseases such as asbestosis, a progressive scarring of the lungs that slowly strangulates its victims, and mesothelioma, a fast-acting cancer of the linings of the lungs.
Contrary to the myth of litigiousness, American workers exposed to asbestos did not immediately sue when they starting falling ill in growing numbers in the late 1960s.
Instead, they filed claims with state workers’ compensation programs for lost wages and help with their medical bills. When these programs provided very limited relief, they turned to lawyers, who found new ways to hold companies liable for the failure to warn their workers about the dangers of their products.
Over the next few decades, asbestos litigation skyrocketed. By the early 2000s, Americans had filed an estimated 730,000 claims for damages associated with their illnesses and to punish companies for their reckless conduct. Those claims have bankrupted scores of businesses while providing victims slow and erratic payments. The final price tag could reach an estimated US$325 billion in today’s dollars.
The Netherlands offers an instructive contrast. Dutch workers suffered from asbestos-related diseases at five to 10 times the rate of American workers.
Dutch workers had little incentive to sue, because they were guaranteed relatively generous health and unemployment benefits from the government that would be deducted from any recovery in the courts.
Less government; more litigation
The asbestos example underscores an implicit trade in the American approach to social problems that leaves both Republicans and Democrats unsatisfied: less “government” but more litigation.
The coronavirus pandemic, like other health disasters, has revealed the downsides of this trade for both businesses and households. Businesses, already under financial strain from the pandemic, worry that the trickle of lawsuits that has already begun will turn into a torrent. Displaced workers lack adequate health care insurance and have no guarantee they will be protected from poverty when their unemployment benefits run out.
This brings us back to the congressional standoff. Congress could clarify the responsibilities of businesses, creating a safe harbor from lawsuits: If businesses adopt model sanitation and social distancing measures and provide workers with protective equipment, they could not be sued on the grounds that these procedures were inadequate. In exchange, the aid package should ensure that workers’ lost wages and medical costs associated with the pandemic are fully covered.
This would not be a cynical partisan deal. It would be an exchange of remedies, replacing some forms of litigation, which have often proved expensive and unreliable mechanisms for protecting workers and consumers, with direct support for those whose health and livelihoods have been devastated.
If properly structured, such a deal would offer more aid for victims of the coronavirus and more legal certainty for businesses seeking to reopen. That would be a win for both sides – and a step away from depending so much on courts to respond to disasters like this pandemic.
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the U.S. are enduring longer hospital stays and facing higher rates of intensive care unit admission than patients in China, finds a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Kaiser Permanente.
The results suggest that hospitals in the U.S. may be harder hit by the coronavirus pandemic than initially thought, as many forecasts of disease burden — particularly the number of hospital beds and ICU units needed at the peak of infection — are based on data out of China.
“The hospital resources needed to meet the needs of severely ill patients are substantial,” said Joseph Lewnard, an assistant professor of epidemiology at UC Berkeley and lead author of the paper. “We found that observations from China may not provide a sufficient basis for anticipating the U.S. health care demand.”
The team analyzed the anonymized medical records of the nearly 9.6 million Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California, Northern California and Washington state.
The study focused on 1,277 Kaiser Permanente members who were hospitalized with clinically- or laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 between the start of the year and early April.
“Because Kaiser Permanente members receive comprehensive health care from a single provider network, we overcome many of the difficulties that arise in studies of diseases within the fragmented U.S. health care delivery system,” said Lewnard.
Despite the grim forecast for hospitals, the report does offer a glimmer of hope: Estimates of transmission intensity, based on extrapolations of infection rates from hospitalization data, indicate that the social distancing measures in the region are succeeding at “flattening the curve” of contagion.
“When people engaged in protecting themselves and their communities through social distancing, their efforts translated into a substantial reduction in the transmissibility of the disease,” said Vincent Liu, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Northern California and co-author of the paper. “Those efforts are going to be critical for this next phase, in which social distancing measures are gradually relaxed. We need our communities to stay really engaged, because these data show that even the actions of individuals and small groups can really impact the spread of the virus.”
The results appeared online May 22 in the The BMJ.
Longer hospital stays, lower transmission rates
Of the 1,277 Kaiser Permanente members who were hospitalized with COVID-19, 42 percent required care in the ICU, and 18 percent died from the disease. Modeling estimates based on observations in China usually assume that only about 30 percent of hospitalized patients will require ICU care.
Similarly, the data showed that hospital stays lasted an average of 10.7 days for survivors and 13.7 days for non-survivors, compared to an average of 7.5 days among non-survivors in China.
Troublingly, 25 percent of patients were hospitalized for 16 days or more. In comparison, a widely-used modeling study from Imperial College London projecting health care needs assumes an average stay of eight days.
While the underlying reasons for these discrepancies remain unclear, the authors stress the need to collect data in different regions and under different health care settings and caution against heavy reliance on models based on data from other countries.
“The spread of COVID-19 and its impact on local health care systems show differences across the world,” Liu said. “Health care systems differ, and their capabilities and structure have an effect on the local response and the impact of the surge. So, it's really important to understand how our own data agree with, or in some cases differ, from the experience we've seen in other countries.”
Not surprisingly, the analysis also revealed that the virus tends to hit older people the hardest. Approximately 50 percent of hospitalizations were among adults aged 60 and older, and 25 percent were among adults aged 73 and older.
Similarly, hospitalized men seemed to be hit harder than women: Hospitalized males over the age of 80 faced a 58 percent risk of death, and hospitalized females of the same age faced only a 32 percent risk of death.
Estimates of transmission intensity over time yielded promising results. The team found that the transmission rate of the virus has decreased significantly, and the drop began slightly before statewide shelter-in-place orders went into effect in late March.
This effect is likely due to the implementation of smaller-scale social distancing measures, such as local restrictions on gatherings and individuals’ compliance with safety recommendations, in the weeks prior to the statewide orders, the authors said.
However, while the data indicate that social distancing is succeeding, the authors warn that we shouldn’t expect to return to normal anytime soon.
“These data suggest that if we were to release all of our mitigation measures at one time, the disease would start rapidly spreading again,” Liu said. “We have to be really strategic and vigilant about how and when we roll back our social distancing measures. It’s going to require coordination between health care systems, community partners, government and public health agencies, academic institutions and industry.”
“We also need to be mindful of just how severe the disease is,” Lewnard added. “We see an 18 percent overall fatality rate among all people who are getting hospitalized, and 42 percent end up in the ICU, so the impact of transmission in terms of severe disease and hospital burden is quite high.”
Co-authors of the paper include Michael L. Jackson, Mark A. Schmidt, Jean P. Flores, Chris Jentz, Scott Young and Jim Bellows of Kaiser Permanente; Britta L. Jewell of Imperial College London; and Graham R. Northrup, Ayesha Mahmud, Arthur L. Reingold, Maya Petersen and Nicholas P. Jewell of UC Berkeley.
The study was funded by Kaiser Permanente.
Kara Manke writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A man died on Sunday night when he was hit by a vehicle while riding his bicycle in Clearlake.
Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White said the fatal crash occurred at about 10:40 p.m. Sunday at Highway 53 and Dam Road.
White confirmed that the adult male was hit by a vehicle and killed while on his bicycle.
Late Sunday night, officers were still on scene investigating along with the help of the California Highway Patrol, White said.
The Clearlake Police Department issued a late-night Nixle alert asking people to use an alternate route on Highway 53 in the southbound lane from Dam Road to Anderson Ranch Parkway due to the investigation.
White said he anticipated the release of the victim’s name should take place on Monday.
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. – Firefighters contained a small wildland fire that burned in the hills near Clearlake Oaks on Saturday.
The fire originally was dispatched at about 2 p.m. Saturday near Catholic Church Road and Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks.
However, firefighters from Cal Fire, Northshore Fire and other local agencies responding to the area said it actually was located in the hills behind the Moose Lodge.
Firefighters responding to the scene also were urged to be on the lookout for fallen power lines due to a brief power outage on the Northshore before the fire was dispatched.
A Cal Fire helicopter arriving at the scene at around 2:15 p.m. said the fire was between two to four acres, with a slow rate of spread and approaching the crest of the hill. More resources were requested, including airplanes and dozers.
Responding ground units were challenged in accessing the fire, finally finding a road that led to it. They also reported that all power lines in the area were still up, based on radio traffic.
Firefighters and equipment remained on scene into Saturday night.
Incident command reported that shortly before 8 p.m. that the fire’s final size was approximately 4.3 acres.
A cause for the fire has so far not been reported.
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.
Giant planets in our solar system and circling other stars have exotic clouds unlike anything on Earth, and the gas giants orbiting close to their stars — so-called hot Jupiters — boast the most extreme.
A team of astronomers from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have now come up with a model that predicts which of the many types of proposed clouds, from sapphire to smoggy methane haze, to expect on hot Jupiters of different temperatures, up to thousands of degrees Kelvin.
Surprisingly, the most common type of cloud, expected over a large range of temperatures, should consist of liquid or solid droplets of silicon and oxygen, like melted quartz or molten sand. On cooler hot Jupiters, below about 950 Kelvin (1,250 degrees Fahrenheit), skies are dominated by a hydrocarbon haze, essentially smog.
The model will help astronomers studying the gases in the atmospheres of these strange and distant worlds, since clouds interfere with measurements of the atmospheric composition. It could also help planetary scientists understand the atmospheres of cooler giant planets and their moons, such as Jupiter and Saturn’s moon Titan in our own solar system.
“The kinds of clouds that can exist in these hot atmospheres are things that we don’t really think of as clouds in the solar system,” said Peter Gao, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, who is first author of a paper describing the model that appeared May 25 in the journal Nature Astronomy. “There have been models that predict various compositions, but the point of this study was to assess which of these compositions actually matter and compare the model to the available data that we have.”
The study takes advantage of a boom over the past decade in the study of exoplanet atmospheres.
Though exoplanets are too distant and dim to be visible, many telescopes — in particular, the Hubble Space Telescope — are able to focus on stars and capture starlight passing through the atmospheres of planets as they pass in front of their stars.
The wavelengths of light that are absorbed, revealed by spectroscopic measurements, tell astronomers which elements make up the atmosphere.
To date, this technique and others have found or inferred the presence of water, methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, potassium and sodium gases and, in the hottest of the planets, vaporized aluminum oxide, iron and titanium.
But while some planets seem to have clear atmospheres and clear spectroscopic features, many have clouds that completely block the starlight filtering through, preventing the study of gases below the upper cloud layers. The compositions of the gases can tell astronomers how exoplanets form and whether the building blocks of life are present around other stars.
“We have found a lot of clouds: some kinds of particles — not molecules, but small droplets — that are hanging out in these atmospheres,” Gao said. “We don't really know what they are made of, but they are contaminating our observations, essentially making it more difficult for us to assess the composition and abundances of important molecules, like water and methane.”
Ruby clouds
To explain these observations, astronomers have proposed many strange types of clouds, composed of aluminum oxides, such as corundum, the stuff of rubies and sapphires; molten salt, such as potassium chloride; silicon oxides, or silicates, like quartz, the main component of sand; sulfides of manganese or zinc that exist as rocks on Earth; and organic hydrocarbon compounds. The clouds could be liquid or solid aerosols, Gao said.
Gao adapted computer models initially created for Earth’s water clouds and subsequently extended to the cloudy atmospheres of planets like Jupiter, which has ammonia and methane clouds.
He expanded the model even further to the much higher temperatures seen on hot gas giant planets — up to 2,800 Kelvin, or 4,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,500 degrees Celsius) — and the elements likely to condense into clouds at these temperatures.
The model takes into account how gases of various atoms or molecules condense into droplets, how these droplets grow or evaporate and whether they are likely to be transported in the atmosphere by winds or updrafts, or sink because of gravity.
“The idea is that the same physical principles guide the formation of all types of clouds,” said Gao, who has also modeled sulfuric acid clouds on Venus. “What I have done is to take this model and bring it out to the rest of the galaxy, making it able to simulate silicate clouds and iron clouds and salt clouds.”
He then compared his predictions to available data on 30 exoplanets out of a total of about 70 transiting exoplanets with recorded transmission spectra to date.
The model revealed that many of the exotic clouds proposed over the years are difficult to form because the energy required to condense the gases is too high. Silicate clouds condense easily, however, and dominate over a 1,200-degree Kelvin range of temperatures: from about 900 to 2,000 Kelvin. That’s a range of about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to the model, in the hottest atmospheres, aluminum oxides and titanium oxides condense into high-level clouds. In exoplanets with cooler atmospheres, those clouds form deeper in the planet and are obscured by higher silicate clouds. On even cooler exoplanets, these silicate clouds also form deeper in the atmosphere, leaving clear upper atmospheres.
At even cooler temperatures, ultraviolet light from the exoplanet’s star converts organic molecules like methane into extremely long hydrocarbon chains that form a high-level haze akin to smog. This smog can obscure lower-lying salt clouds of potassium or sodium chloride.
For those astronomers seeking a cloudless planet to more easily study the gases in the atmosphere, Gao suggested focusing on planets between about 900 and 1,400 Kelvin, or those hotter than about 2,200 Kelvin.
“The presence of clouds has been measured in a number of exoplanet atmospheres before, but it is when we look collectively at a large sample that we can pick apart the physics and chemistry in the atmospheres of these worlds,” said co-author Hannah Wakeford, an astrophysicist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. “The dominant cloud species is as common as sand — it is essentially sand — and it will be really exciting to be able to measure the spectral signatures of the clouds themselves for the first time with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope.”
Future observations, such as those by NASA’s JWST, scheduled for launch within a few years, should be able to confirm these predictions and perhaps shed light on the hidden cloud layers of planets closer to home. Gao said that similar exotic clouds may exist at depths within Jupiter or Saturn where the temperatures are close to those found on hot Jupiters.
“Because there are thousands of exoplanets versus just one Jupiter, we can study a bunch of them and see what the average is and how that compares to Jupiter,” Gao said.
He and his colleagues plan to test the model against observational data from other exoplanets and also from brown dwarfs, which are basically gas giant planets so massive they’re almost stars. They, too, have clouds.
“In studying planetary atmospheres in the solar system, we typically have the context of images. We have no such luck with exoplanets. They are just dots or shadows,” said Jonathan Fortney of UC Santa Cruz. “That's a huge loss in information. But what we do have to make up for that is a much larger sample size. And that allows us to look for trends — here, a trend in cloudiness — with planetary temperature, something that we just don't have the luxury of in our solar system.”
Other co-authors of the paper are Daniel Thorngren of the University of Montreal in Canada, Graham Lee of Oxford University in the U.K., Diana Powell and Xi Zhang of UC Santa Cruz, Caroline Morley of the University of Texas at Austin and Kevin Stevenson of the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.
Gao was supported by NASA’s postdoctoral program and a 51 Pegasi b Fellowship from the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Robert Sanders writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors this week will continue a discussion on resuming in-person board meetings and get the weekly COVID-19 update from the Public Health officer.
The board will meet virtually beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 2, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8, online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and on the county’s Facebook page. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.
Because the meeting will be held virtually, members of the public are asked to submit comments on items to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please note the agenda item number addressed.
The board will get its weekly update from Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace at 9:02 a.m.
In an untimed item, the board will continue a discussion that began last week regarding resumption of in-person meetings.
In another untimed item, the board will consider rescinding an ordinance it passed on May 5 to establish temporary safety protocols for members of the public visiting county facilities, requiring the use of face coverings absent the option of a minimum 6-foot separation or the use of protective shielding.
County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson said the matter is being brought to the board at request of Chair Moke Simon.
“At the time your Board adopted this Ordinance, there was no Public Health Order in place requiring the use of face coverings, although an Order has more recently been put into effect. Since the Public Health Order essentially supersedes the Urgency Ordinance, the Chair is recommending your Board consider rescinding the Urgency Ordinance effective immediately,” Huchingson wrote in her report to the board.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Sitting as Air Quality Management District Board of Directors, authorize the air pollution control officer to sign and submit the grant agreement between the district and CARB for AB197 Emissions Inventory District Grant, and sign all other program documents.
5.2: Adopt resolution approving the amended Agreement No.19-0237 with the state of California, Department of Food and Agriculture for exotic pest detection in the amount of $38,223 for FY 2019-20.
5.3: Approve Amendment No. 1 to the agreement between the county of Lake and Redwood Community Services Inc. for the Lake County WRAP Program, Foster Care Program, and Intensive Services Foster Care Program for specialty mental health services for fiscal year 2019-20 from April 1, 2020, through June 30, 2020, for an increase in fees and payment terms due to COVID-19.
5.4: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Hilltop Recovery Services for substance use disorder intensive outpatient program and outpatient drug free services for FY 2020-21, for a contract maximum of $175,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.
5.5: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods and/or services; and (b) approve agreement between county of Lake and High Country Security for commercial fire alarm installation and monitoring at 14092 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake for fiscal years 2019-20 and 2020-21 for a contract maximum of $28,366.70 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.
5.6: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meetings on March 10 and 24, 2020, and May 12.
5.7: Adopt resolution approving county of Lake Health Services to apply for grant funding in the amount of $176,856 through the County Medical Services Program Governing Board (CMSP) for Fiscal Year 2019-20.
5.8: (a) Approve the purchase of a mobile radio communications vault for the Goat Mountain repeater site (b) approve budget transfer and (c) authorize the Sheriff or his designee to sign the Purchase Order in an amount of $119,064.
5.9: Approve contract for commissary services between the county of Lake and Keefe Commissary Network LLC with costs neutral to the county.
5.10: Approve second amendment to lease agreement between county of Lake and Gary Sada and Sheila Sada for $86,332.68, from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, for the property located at 926 S. Forbes St. in Lakeport and authorize the chair to sign.
5.11: Approve second amendment to lease agreement between county of Lake and Gary Weiser and Shelly Weiser for $15,000 per fiscal year, from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2025, for the Property Located at 4477 Moss Ave., Unit C, in Clearlake and authorize the chair to sign.
5.12: Approve amendment one to the agreement between the county of Lake and SCS Engineers for CEQA environmental review and regulatory agency permitting services for the Eastlake Landfill Expansion Project in the increased amount of $121,800 and authorize the chair to sign.
5.13: Adopt resolution establishing county-maintained mileage for 2019.
5.14: Approve Award of Bid for the Clayton Creek Road at Clayton Creek Bridge Replacement Project, Bid No. 20-10; Federal Aid Project No. BRLO-5914(077) and authorize the chair to sign.
5.15: Approve addendum to agreement by and between the county of Lake and Megabyte Systems Inc. to purchase the transient occupancy tax module for the amount of $25,000 and authorize the chair to sign.
5.16: Approve to Waive 900-hour limit for extra help quagga mussel coordinator Edward (Marty) Jones.
5.17: Approve to waive 900-hour limit for extra help field technician II Daniella Cazares.
TIMED ITEMS
6.1, 9:01 a.m.: Public input.
6.2, 9:02 a.m.: Consideration of update on COVID-19.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration of timeline for resumption of in-person Board of Supervisors meetings.
7.3: Consideration of rescission of Urgency Ordinance No. 3091 establishing temporary safety protocols for county facilities to the public during the ongoing COVID-19 state of emergency.
7.4: Consideration of resolution further amending Resolution 2019-79 to clarify the procedures used in the collection of taxes due pursuant to the Lake County cannabis cultivation tax ordinance.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Conference with Legal Counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9 (d)(1) – FERC Project No. 77, Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project.
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. – The Board of Directors of the Westside Community Park Committee announced the cancellation of the annual Grillin’ on the Green barbecue cookoff which was scheduled for Aug. 1.
Given the uncertainty of holding large social events due to the coronavirus pandemic, the board made the decision to cancel.
Grillin’ on the Green is the sole fundraising activity for the Westside Community Park Committee, said Committee Chair Dennis Rollins, making the decision especially difficult.
In addition to developing the park, the committee is also responsible for the maintenance and operation of the portion of the park known as the Jane Barnes Field.
Rollins reports that in spite of the current challenges, two projects are scheduled to begin in June with donations received from the Rotary Club of Lakeport and the Russell McIntire Trust.
Rotary is funding the purchase and installation of an ADA-compliant portable toilet that will be anchored on a concrete foundation located between the concession stand and the storage building on the east side of the Jane Barnes Field.
The Russell McIntire Trust’s generous donation will fund the installation of curb, gutter and sidewalk along the east side of the parking lot at the Jane Barnes Field.
This work will start at the entrance to the parking lot from Westside Park Road and extend south the length of the playing field, increasing pedestrian safety and helping to ensure that vehicles cannot accidentally enter the field.
The Westshore Little League softball program and Early Lake Lions Club Horseshoe League did not take place this year due to the Shelter-In-Place orders.
However, the Konocti Youth Soccer League is planning to start practice sessions in August and play its season with modifications. The park is also home to the Ukiah Men’s Soccer League.
Westside Community Park at 1401 Westside Park Road is currently open for walking and use of the outdoor exercise equipment. Users are reminded to maintain social distancing.
The Westside Community Park Committee is a nonprofit organization which is developing the park in conjunction with the city of Lakeport, volunteers and contributions from individuals, organizations and businesses dedicated to creating a recreational facility for use by youth and adults from throughout Lake County.
For more information about supporting the development of the park, contact Rollins at 707-349-0969.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Superior Court reported on Friday that it is preparing to reopen additional aspects of its operations in June and will be continuing some current measures in order to keep staff and the public safe.
The Friday update explained that the court will begin conducting in-person trials or contested hearings the week of June 15. The number of cases set on a given date and time have been limited to allow for appropriate social distancing.
The court said it will begin conducting jury trials sometime after June 22.
The court clerk’s offices will reopen to the public on June 8. The public is encouraged to continue to make use of the dropbox whenever possible to avoid person-to-person interaction.
Court officials said numerous types of other hearings will continue to be done via videoconference.
The court severely curtailed operations beginning in mid-March when separate shelter in place orders were issued by Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace and Gov. Gavin Newsom, as Lake County News has reported.
Both of those shelter in place orders remain active as aspects of reopening are underway.
“Even as reopening begins, the COVID-19 pandemic continues and it is apparent that social distancing, limits on gatherings, and mandatory face coverings will remain in place for weeks and, in some form, potentially months to come,” court officials said in a Friday statement.
Officials said the court provides an essential government service and that it has taken “significant steps” in an effort to comply with the Public Health officer’s order and to protect court users and staff from the spread of COVID-19.
As the court prepares to reopen and begin providing in-person services to the public, court officials have limited the number of cases on the calendar, will require social distancing in court facilities, and continue to handle matters via remote means whenever possible.
In accordance with the Public Health officer’s May 21 order, the court will require face coverings for anyone entering a court facility.
Remote court hearings
The court will continue to hold the following hearings by remote appearance only. All attorneys and parties must appear by phone/video as directed by the court. The court will provide instructions for the remote appearance.
Hearing dates for the following calendars will remain as presently set:
– Daily in-custody criminal arraignments. – Juvenile detention hearings. – Felony law and motion, Department 3, Tuesdays at 8:15 a.m. – Sentencings, Department 3, Mondays at 1:30 p.m. – Misdemeanor disposition/setting and motions, Department 1, Mondays at 8:15 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. – Misdemeanor settlement conferences, Department 1, Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. – Civil law and motion, Department 2, Mondays at 9 a.m. – Civil case management, Department 2, Mondays at 10:30 a.m. – Conservatorships, Department 2, Mondays at 1:30 p.m. – Probate, Department 2, Mondays at 2 p.m. – Department of Child Support Services Family Support, Clearlake Branch, Tuesdays at 9 a.m. – Domestic violence restraining orders, Department 2, Tuesdays at 8:15 a.m. – Family law and motion, Department 2, Tuesdays at 10 a.m. – Juvenile delinquency and dependency calendars, Mondays, 8:18 a.m./1:30 p.m., Department 4. – Civil harassment restraining order calendar, Tuesdays, 8:15 a.m., Department 4. – Trials and contested hearings.
Felony law and motion, preliminary hearings
The felony law and motion calendar will be held by remote appearance. However, out-of-custody defendants ordered to appear will be required to attend in person. Preliminary hearings will continue to be held in person.
Misdemeanor arraignment calendar
The misdemeanor arraignment calendar will begin the week of June 8. This calendar will be held in person. The number of cases set on a given date/time have been limited to allow for appropriate social distancing.
Jury trials
The court will begin conducting jury trials sometime after June 22, when necessary. If you receive a jury summons for a date after June 22, you are required to appear.
Steps have been taken to minimize the risk to jurors, including reducing the number of jurors who are summoned to appear at one time. Additional details are provided with the jury summons.
Clearlake Branch operations: Small claims/traffic/unlawful detainer
The Clearlake Branch will begin holding court calendars beginning June 22. Unlawful detainer cases will be set in compliance with Statewide Emergency Rules 1 and 2.
Self-Help Center
The Self-Help Center will continue to provide service by remote means only.
Litigants can contact the Self-Help Center by phone 707-994-4612, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for assistance.
As the situation is quickly evolving, the court said it will keep the public up to date on its website.
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.