LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee will meet this week to discuss an economic development strategic plan and hear a presentation from a group working on health outcomes.
The committee, or LEDAC, will meet via Zoom at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 12.
The meeting is open to the public.
The meeting will be held via Zoom: Meeting ID, 947 1455 3688; passcode, 794476. Dial by your location, +1 669 900 6833.
On Wednesday, LEDAC will review the work plan for updating the Lakeport Economic Development Strategic Plan.
That includes a SWOT analysis, reviewing supporting documents, revising key findings, updating the work program and consideration of features addressing resiliency, the arts and cultural plan and closer ties with partnership organizations, among other items.
In an item timed for 8:30 a.m., JoAnn Saccato, community engagement coordinator for NorCal 4 Health, will give an informational update on the Health is Wealth Work Group.
In other business, City Manager Kevin Ingram and Community Development Director Jenni Byers will give updates on city projects and activities.
There also will be reports from members including the Lakeport Main Street Association, Lake County Chamber of Commerce, CareerPoint Lake, Mendocino College/Lake Center and Lake Economic Development Corp.
LEDAC advocates for a strong and positive Lakeport business community and acts as a conduit between the city and the community for communicating the goals, activities and progress of Lakeport’s economic and business programs.
Members are Chair Wilda Shock and Vice Chair Denise Combs, Maureen Brasier, Bonnie Darling, Candy De Los Santos, Melissa Fulton, Pam Harpster, Andy Lucas, Alicia Russell, Laura Sammel and Amanda Xu, with Bill Eaton as an ex officio member. City staff who are members include City Manager Kevin Ingram and Community Development Director Jenni Byers.
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. — There’s a purple haze on the hills and in the valleys; one is a native flowering shrub (usually on the hills), and one is anon-native invasive vine (usually in the valleys) and both are blooming right now giving a lilac tinge to spring.
Ceanothus is a California native with 26 different species in Lake County alone according to the California Native Plant Society, with 15 of those species with pale lilac to deep violet flowers; others are white, cream-colored, yellow or a mixture.
It is commonly called “wild lilac” that infuses the hillsides and chaparral areas with sweet aromas in the spring. So, if you want to attract the birds and the bees to your landscaping, any species of ceanothus are one of the most beautiful — and important — native plants to grow for them.
In addition to flowering shrubs that can reach heights over 10’ tall, there are also some that grow like prickly ground cover with holly-shaped evergreen leaves known as Mahala mats, which are well adapted to our clay-heavy soils.
In addition to attracting birds and bees, ceanothus also thrives by neglecting it (no need to irrigate once established) is deer resistant (and the less nutrients and moisture in the soil, the more deer avoid it), and according to the UC Sonoma County Master Gardeners, has historic uses as a fresh or dried flowers, with some varieties used for lathering into soap, providing relief from poison oak, eczema, and rash. If you want to learn more about Ceanothus, we recommend reading Ceanothus by Davis Fross and Dieter Wilken (Timber Press, 2006).
The other haze of purple (well, technically, “purple” isn’t a color because there is no beam of pure or wavelength that corresponds to purple. “Purple” is a name and color invented by the Binney & Smith Crayola Crayon Company to replace “violet” — which is an actual color), is hairy vetch.
Hairy vetch is a nitrogen fixer, which means they harbor a bacteria in their roots that convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form that plants can absorb and use, so farmers and gardeners have planted this nonnative vetch to use as a cover crop to increase the nitrogen in their soils for increased plant growth, so it has naturalized across Lake County and California. However, it has a downside for equestrians.
Historically used in roadside revegetation projects, hairy vetch has encroached on pasturelands and valleys throughout Lake County, which can be a problem for horses who graze on the plants and cause them to founder, so best to remove it and replant other native vegetation.
Enjoy the purple haze of hills and valleys — for spring is waning and the haze will soon disappear ...
Terre Logsdon is an environmentalist, certified master composter, and advocate for agroecology solutions to farming. An avid fan and protector of California wildflowers, plants, natural resources, and the environment, she seeks collaborative solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change. Kim Riley is retired, an avid hiker at Highland Springs, and has lived in Lake County since 1985. After 15 years of trail recovery and maintenance on the Highland Springs trails, she is now focused on native plants, including a native plant and pollinator garden on her property as well as promoting and preserving the beauty of the Highland Springs Recreation Area. Karen Sullivan has operated two nurseries to propagate and cultivate native plants and wildflowers, has lived in Kelseyville for the past 30 years, rides horses far and wide to see as many flowers as possible, and offers native plants and wildflowers for sale to the public. You can check her nursery stock here. They are collaborating on a book, Highland Springs Recreation Area: A Field Guide, which will be published in the future. In the meanwhile, please visit https://www.facebook.com/HighlandSpringsNaturalists and https://www.facebook.com/HighlandSpringsRecreationArea.
From left to right, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg, Minnie Cannon Elementary School Principal Brandy Fischer, Lake County Teacher of the Year 2021 Michelle Mackey, Middletown Unified School District Superintendent Michael Cox and Middletown Unified School District School Board President Misha Grothe. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Office of Education.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Michelle Mackey, sixth grade teacher at Minnie Cannon Elementary School in Middletown, has been named Lake County Teacher of the Year 2021.
“Michelle Mackey is a spectacular teacher that only gets better every year,” said Brandy Fischer, Minnie Cannon Elementary School principal.
Mackey received notification of the honor on Thursday, May 6, at an outdoor assembly at Minnie Cannon Elementary School.
Her students, administration, school board president and family members looked on as Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg presented a surprised Mackey with a plaque and flowers.
Mackey was chosen as the Middletown Unified School District Teacher of the Year in March.
In April, Mackey participated in an application process and interview at the Lake County Office of Education. There she was chosen from a group of four other Lake County District Teachers of the Year to represent Lake County at the California Teacher of the Year competition this summer.
The other district teachers of the year for 2021 include Jim Wenckus, Kelseyville Unified School District; Andrea Pullman, Konocti Unified School District; Jodi Mansell, Lakeport Unified School District; Stella Winkler, Lucerne Elementary School District; and Angel Hayenga, Upper Lake Unified School District.
“Each year, I feel privileged to attend these interviews. I was impressed by each and every teacher represented,” said Falkenberg. “They are all winners.”
Mackey began her teaching career after volunteering in the classroom when her children were young. She was inspired by her children’s preschool teacher, Brandy Fischer, who is now principal at Minnie Cannon.
Mackey then went on to earn her bachelor’s degree, teaching credential in both multiple subject and special education, and a master’s degree in autism spectrum disorder.
Besides making advances in her own education, Mackey also believes in helping others achieve their education goals. She currently mentors four beginning teachers, and two student teachers joined her in the classroom this year.
But it is Mackey’s connection to her students that makes her stand out.
“She is iconic in Middletown. She is known as the teacher who can meet each student at their individual level and get them to where they need to be,” said Middletown Unified School District Superintendent Michael Cox.
Mackey will spend this summer preparing her application for the California Teacher of the Year Program, where she will be competing with teachers from some of the biggest school districts in the state.
The California Department of Education will announce five California Teachers of the Year in October 2021. Mackey hopes to be one of those five.
Lake County has had three California Teachers of the Year in the last 16 years.
Erica Boomer from Upper Lake Unified School District was named a California Teacher of the Year 2019.
Jennifer Kelly from the Middletown Unified School District received the honor in 2011 and Alan Siegel from Konocti Unified School District received the honor in 2005.
Falkenberg acknowledges the high success rate Lake County teachers have had in the California Teacher of the Year program.
“Our Lake County students are being served well by some of the best teachers in our state. That’s a very impressive thing,” he said.
The Lake County Teacher of the Year is a program administered through the Lake County Office of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about Michelle Mackey and the Lake County District Teachers of the Year, visit www.lakecoe.org/TOY.
Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) and Senator Lena A. Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) have led a group of 17 members of the California Legislature in calling upon the governor and legislative leadership to support a major investment in broadband infrastructure and service for Californians without reliable, affordable internet.
The effort comes as the governor considers adjustments to his January budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2021-22 in the annual “May Revision.”
The letter calls for a $500 million allocation in funds from the American Rescue Plan to support the deployment of broadband municipal fiber networks by local governments.
The group, which includes Aguiar-Curry, Gonzalez, Sens. Anna Caballero (D-Salinas), and Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), and Assemblymembers Autumn Burke (D-Inglewood), Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside), Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton), Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-Grand Terrace), Luz Rivas (D-Arleta), Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), Mark Stone (D-Scotts Valley), Carlos Villapudua (D-Stockton), Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), and Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa) calls for a significant $3 billion investment to further target and support broadband infrastructure deployment by local agencies, nonprofits and internet providers who apply under the California Advanced Services Fund program.
The Newsom administration’s Public Utilities Commission has estimated the necessary investment to bring Californians up to federal standards established by the Federal Communications Commission at almost $6.8 billion.
This estimate comes before the FCC considers updating the standard of 25 mbs upload/25 mbs download to greater speeds to keep up with improving computer technology to support such services as online education and job training, Telehealth, Small Business access to the Digital Economy, and public access to e-commerce and a growing array of government services online. Higher standards will require even greater public investment.
"Even before the pandemic, which shone a glaring light on Californians’ lack of reliable, affordable internet services, we knew access to the internet is an essential requirement for participating in the promise of today’s online world," said Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters). "The California of today cannot lead our people into the future with the technology of the past. In partnership with Senator Gonzalez and our many colleagues in the Legislature, we can provide that future for every home and business in our State. The time to strike is now, with budgetary investment to support the policy in our legislation."
“This year we must take meaningful action to close the digital divide,” said Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach). “That means we need substantial monetary investments in addition to policy reform, to ensure that broadband infrastructure is deployed in the unserved and underserved communities that need access to high-speed internet the most. We already know how important this is. Broadband is a necessity, just like electricity and water, and every Californian deserves to have access to the vast myriad of benefits afforded by the internet, including educational, social, and economic opportunities. I thank Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry for her continued support, and all members who have signed on to this letter in support of greater financial investments that will take us one step closer to true Digital Equity in California.”
Aguiar-Curry represents the Fourth Assembly District, which includes all of Lake and Napa Counties, parts of Colusa, Solano and Sonoma counties, and all of Yolo County except West Sacramento.
Melissa L. Caldwell, University of California, Santa Cruz
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed uncomfortable and distressing truths about American society: namely, the struggle many Americans face just getting by.
Yet, while the pervasive food insecurity that has always existed in the U.S. became more visible, how the problem disproportionately affects people with disabilities has received less attention.
As an ethnographer of food, poverty and welfare, I study how people respond to economic scarcity through caregiving networks. Although caregiving networks like neighborhood mutual aid groups and pop-up food banks quickly emerged to support vulnerable groups during the pandemic, people with disabilities have continued to face additional challenges.
High risk of food insecurity
An estimated 25% of U.S. adults have some form of physical or intellectual disability. Functional disabilities – such as the inability to walk more than a quarter of a mile, climb stairs or lift objects weighing over 10 pounds – are among the most common.
Collectively, these factors put them at greater risk for food insecurity, which the USDA defines as limited or uncertain access to adequate food.
Yet people with disabilities are underrepresented in accounts of pandemic-related poverty and food insecurity. Given their reduced access to food shopping, they are less likely to be included in research on disruptions to the food system. This is prompting demands from health researchers and disability activists for greater attention and solutions.
In the early stages of the pandemic, many Americans endured long lines and stocked up on groceries to avoid repeat trips to the stores. But these inconveniences – as well as going from store to store in search of scarce goods – can be physically and emotionally grueling for people with limited mobility or stability, or who are easily exhausted. And although many supermarkets created special shopping hours for elderly and disabled customers, getting there at specific times required people to either be able to drive or navigate the scheduling uncertainties of public transportation.
Once inside stores, disabled persons are further disenfranchised by the physical limitations of shopping. Shopping for one to two weeks – as public health officials had recommended – is especially difficult while using a wheelchair or motorized scooter that holds only a small basket of goods. The same is true for pushing a cart or carrying a basket while using a walker or cane.
Customers who are able to drive themselves to shop may also find themselves unable to get their items from the store into their vehicles. Stores that once offered assistance stopped these services in order to protect their employees.
For some individuals with disabilities, going to a food bank or community service center was also an important social encounter – an opportunity to visit friends, access news and interact with social workers. Once those programs were shuttered or made contactless, many people were further isolated in their homes. Studies have shown that social isolation among people with disabilities reduces not only access to food but also the motivation to prepare and eat food.
While new digital technologies have allowed customers to outsource their food shopping to gig workers, they require basic infrastructure, equipment and knowledge that may be unaffordable to low-income people with disabilities. Moreover, reliance on others to choose one’s food can cause people to feel a loss of control and autonomy over their food choices.
In many ways, the stories that have been most visible around food insecurity have been those of the people who were in fact able to stand in lines, stock up on groceries and even barter with neighbors for supplies. During a pandemic that has made life much more difficult for billions of people around the world, I believe the experiences of disabled persons have become further marginalized and less visible.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Faced with intensifying drought conditions, Sheriff Brian Martin has declared a drought emergency in Lake County.
Martin took the action in his capacity as director of Emergency Services, citing the drought this year and the fact that the state of California is in the second consecutive year of extremely dry conditions due to historically low rainfall totals.
In his two terms as sheriff, he’s issued numerous emergency declarations for fires, storms and floods, public safety power shut-offs and the pandemic. This is his first emergency declaration for drought.
“The water levels today are just slightly lower than they were in 2014,” although not as low as the 1970s, Martin said.
Lake County Water Resources reported Clear Lake was at 0.77 feet Rumsey — the special measure for Clear Lake — on Friday, compared to 4.43 feet Rumsey on May 7 of last year.
On March 4, 2014, when the board approved the last drought emergency, the lake was 1.60 feet Rumsey.
On April 21, Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a regional drought emergency for the Russian River watershed in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, where reservoirs are at record lows.
Martin said his new proclamation doesn’t do anything but declare an emergency, and he’ll discuss what that means with the board on Tuesday.
“This is meant to start triggering some things,” Martin said.
He said he will ask the board to be able to close county-maintained boat ramps either at his discretion or that of Public Services Director Lars Ewing, with approval from Public Works Director Scott De Leon.
The ramps that could be closed due to the low-water conditions are at Lakeside County Park, Lucerne Harbor Park and Clearlake Oaks, among others, Martin said. The county also will ask the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport to monitor their ramps and water levels.
The conditions that could lead to closures at some point will be different for each of the ramps, Martin said, adding that he wants to keep recreation opportunities available for people as long as possible.
Martin said there are parts of the lake that are already exposed this early in the year and some boat ramps are no longer usable. He said they’ve had reports of boats running aground or hitting rocks and they don’t want people to damage their boats or trailers, or get stuck.
The sheriff’s Marine Patrol division is already having its own problems with storing boats, getting them into and out of the water, and even reaching some areas due to the low water levels, Martin said.
He said a boater recently ran aground in the Rodman Slough about 300 yards out. “We can’t get in there with our regular boat patrol vessels.”
On Tuesday, Martin said De Leon will give a presentation comparing the current lake level to levels in 2014 and the late 1970s drought. He’ll also give a projection of how the lake level will change in the months to come, when evaporation is expected to draw it lower.
Martin said another goal of the proclamation is to raise the public’s awareness and ask community members to take their own initiatives to conserve water and pay attention to conditions.
He said he hopes to minimize the actions that they could be forced to take to save water.
“I don't know what all the impacts are going to be but I know there’s going to be a bunch,” he said, noting potential impacts ranging from drinking water to water supply for farming and cannabis production.
The language of the proclamation follows.
WHEREAS, Chapter 6, Article 1 of the Lake County Code empowers the Director of Emergency Services to proclaim the existence or threatened existence of a local emergency when Lake County is affected by, or likely to be affected by a public calamity and the County Board of Supervisors is not in session, and;
WHEREAS, the Sheriff, as Director of Emergency Services of Lake County does hereby find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property have arisen within the County of Lake, caused by extreme drought conditions since March 5, 2021; and
That these conditions are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of Lake County, and;
That the County Board of Supervisors of the County of Lake is not in session and cannot immediately be called into session;
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY PROCLAIMED that a local emergency now exists throughout Lake County, and;
IT IS FURTHER PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that during the existence of said local emergency the powers, functions, and duties of the emergency organization of Lake County shall be those prescribed by state law, by ordinances, and resolutions of the County; and that these emergency proclamation shall expire seven days after issuance unless confirmed and ratified by the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
AND, IT IS FURTHER PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that said local emergency shall be deemed to continue to exist until its termination is proclaimed by the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
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. — May is National Bicycle Safety Month.
The California Highway Patrol takes the opportunity each year to remind bicyclists and motorists to share the road and remember traffic safety saves lives.
“Thousands of Californians ride their bicycles every day for exercise, leisure, and commuting,” said CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray. “Keeping California’s roads safe is a priority and the shared responsibility of motorists and bicyclists.”
“More and more people are taking up bike riding, and it is important that drivers are aware of bicyclists and travel safely around them,” California Office of Traffic Safety Director Barbara Rooney said. “If you need to move past a bike, try to provide at least three feet of space whenever possible. Think of others on the road who are not driving as your closest friends or family.”
Motorists can help keep cyclists safe by sharing the road, looking twice for bicyclists before turning left or right onto a road, and always checking before opening a vehicle door when parked on a street to avoid opening it into a bicyclist’s path.
The law requires motorists to give at least three feet clearance when passing a bicycle or to slow to a reasonable and prudent speed and pass only when doing so would not endanger the safety of the bicyclist.
Keep in mind the vulnerability of bicyclists in the event of a crash, which could result in serious injury or even death.
Preliminary data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System indicate that during the past five years, nearly 800 bicyclists were killed and more than 51,000 were injured in crashes in California.
The data also show that bicyclists riding on the wrong side of the roadway and improper turning movement violations are the primary causes of fatal bicycle-involved crashes.
A bicyclist has the same rights and is required to follow the same rules of the road as motorists.
Bicyclists should eliminate distractions while riding, obey all traffic signs and signals, indicate when making a turn, pull off the roadway if five or more vehicles are lined up behind them, yield to pedestrians and never bicycle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Bicyclists should remember to be aware of their surroundings and the ever-changing traffic conditions, wear appropriate reflective or bright-colored clothing, wear a helmet, and make certain their bicycle is in good condition and has the appropriate reflectors and lighting.
During the month of May, CHP officers throughout the state will be conducting bicycle safety rodeos and educational presentations to help promote safe behavior to protect both bicyclists and drivers.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has eight dogs waiting to be adopted this week.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Belgian Malinois, German Shepherd, pit bull and Rottweiler.
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”).
“Abigail” is a young female pit bull terrier with a short tan and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 19, ID No. 14552.
Male Belgian Malinois
This young male Belgian Malinois has a short black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 20, ID No. 14521.
Female pit bull terrier
This female pit bull terrier has a short blue and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 22, ID No. 14486.
Female pit bull terrier
This female pit bull terrier has a short black and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 24, ID No. 14536.
‘Ella’
“Ella” is a female German Shepherd with a medium-length tan coat.
She is in kennel No. 25, ID No. 14510.
Female pit bull terrier
This female pit bull terrier has a short red and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 14550.
Rottweiler-pit bull mix
This female Rottweiler-pit bull mix has a short black coat.
She has been spayed.
She is in kennel No. 27, ID No. 14551.
‘Brutus’
“Brutus” is a male pit bull terrier with a short gray and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 28, ID No. 14507.
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.
On Friday Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed five individuals to serve on the newly formed Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.
The formation of this task force was made possible by the governor’s signing of AB 3121, written by then-Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), which established a nine-member task force to inform Californians about slavery and explore ways the state might provide reparations.
“California is leading the nation, in a bipartisan way, on the issue of reparations and racial justice, which is a discussion that is long overdue and deserves our utmost attention,” said Gov. Newsom.
Newsom pointed to his signing into law a number of key bills focused on leveling the playing field in society and ensuring that everyone has a fair shot at achieving the California dream.
He said Friday’s appointment “of individuals with an expansive breadth of knowledge, experiences and understanding of issues impacting the African American community is the next step in our commitment as a state to build a California for all.”
The five individuals selected by the governor to serve on this task force represent diverse backgrounds and meet the statutes required by law, which include choosing one candidate from the field of academia with expertise in civil rights and an additional two appointees selected from major civil society and reparations organizations that have historically championed the cause of reparatory justice.
Other key factors considered for committee candidates included a background in economics and community development, health and psychology, law and criminal justice, faith-based and community activism, and an expertise in the historic achievement of reparatory justice.
The Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans will have a total of nine members, with two individuals appointed by the Senate and two members appointed by the Assembly.
The task force will select its own chair and vice chair and their work will be staffed by the Attorney General’s Office. Members will meet over the next year and conclude their work with a written report on their findings, along with recommendations which will be provided to the Legislature.
The positions do not require Senate confirmation and there is per diem compensation for not more than 10 meetings.
After months of interviews and careful consideration, the governor made the following appointments.
All of the appointees are Democrats.
Dr. Cheryl Grills
Cheryl N. Grills, Ph.D., 62, of Inglewood, was recently chosen to serve as president’s professor at Loyola Marymount University, a designation bestowed upon LMU’s most distinguished faculty who already hold the rank of tenured full professor and are acknowledged leaders in their respective fields, having achieved national and international recognition of their work.
In addition to her community-based research, her work focuses on racial stress and trauma, implicit bias and community healing focused on the needs of people of African ancestry.
Grills has been a professor of psychology and director of Psychology of the Applied Research Center at Loyola Marymount University since 1987.
She is commissioner and vice chair of the LA County Sybil Brand Commission, where she has served since 2011.
She was president of The Association of Black Psychologists from 2011 to 2013. She is the leader of the Global Emotional Emancipation Circles Training Team, where she has served since 2009.
She is the current lead on a national Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color Needs Assessment for several Congressional Caucuses and national civil rights organizations.
Grills was leader of the Emotional Emancipation Circle process under the Community Healing Network in 2009.
Grills earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in clinical psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University with a double major in Psychology and African American Studies.
Dr. Amos Brown
Amos C. Brown, Th.D., 80, of San Francisco, is a renowned civil rights leader who studied under Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was later arrested with King at a lunch counter sit-in in 1961 and joined the Freedom Riders who protested segregation in the South.
Brown was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Ministerial Award for outstanding leadership and contributions to the Black church in America and was also inducted into the International Hall of Fame at the King International Chapel at Morehouse College.
Brown has been a pastor at the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco since 1976. He was a pastor at Pilgrim Baptist Church from 1970 to 1976 and at Saint Paul’s Baptist Church from 1966 to 1970.
Brown is president of the San Francisco Branch and a member of the board of directors of the NAACP.
He earned a Doctor of Theology degree from United Theological Seminary and a Master of Theology degree from Crozer Theological Seminary.
Lisa Holder
Lisa Holder, J.D., 49, of Los Angeles, has dedicated her career to racial and social justice and systems change.
Holder is a nationally recognized, award-winning trial attorney who has been identified as a “Super Lawyer” by Los Angeles Magazine for four consecutive years.
Holder has been counsel at Equal Justice Society since 2016 and principal attorney at the Law Office of Lisa Holder since 2010.
She was lecturer in law and adjunct professor at UCLA School of Law from 2017 to 2019. Holder was adjunct professor at Occidental College from 2012 to 2016 and associate attorney at Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson from 2005 to 2009.
Holder was deputy alternate public defender at the Office of the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender from 2001 to 2005.
She was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship through the Open Society Foundation in 2001. She was an investigator and analyst at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem from 1995 to 1997.
Holder is a steering committee member of the Equal Opportunity 4 All Coalition and Vice Chair of the Child Care Law Center.
She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the New York University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University.
Don Tamaki
Donald K. Tamaki, J.D., 69, of Piedmont, is known for his historic work serving on the pro bono legal team that reopened the landmark Supreme Court case of Korematsu v. United States, overturning Fred Korematsu’s conviction for refusing incarceration during the mass roundup and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and providing a key legal foundation in the decades long Japanese American Redress Movement.
He is also co-founder of StopRepeatingHistory. Org, a campaign focused on drawing parallels between the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and the targeting of minority groups based on race or religion.
The campaign’s current work is focused on the intersectionality of the Japanese American Redress Movement and that of African American Reparations, with an emphasis on creating solidarity and promoting public awareness on the importance of advancing reparations for African Americans.
Tamaki has been senior counsel at Minami Tamaki LLP since 2020, where he also served as managing partner from 2006 to 2020 and was Partner from 1987 to 2020. He was owner of the Law Offices of Donald K. Tamaki from 1984 to 1987.
Tamaki was executive director at the Asian Law Caucus — Advancing Justice from 1980 to 1984. He was a Reginald Heber Smith Staff Attorney at Community Legal Services of San Jose from 1976 to 1979 and Co-Founder of the Asian Law Alliance.
Tamaki is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco and Asian American Bar Association of the Bay Area.
He received the State Bar of California Loren Miller Award in 1987 and the American Bar Association’s Spirit of Excellence Award in 2020.
He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis
Jovan S. Lewis, Ph.D., 38, of Berkeley, is an economic anthropologist and geographer who researches reparations, the political economy of inequality and race in the United States and the Caribbean.
His current work focuses on the history and contemporary circumstances of the historic Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the consequences of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.
Lewis is an associate professor and the incoming chair of the Department of Geography at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 2015.
At Berkeley, he has also been co-chair of the economic disparities research cluster at the Othering and Belonging Institute and Faculty Affiliate in African American Studies since 2015.
He earned Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science degrees in economic anthropology from the London School of Economics and a Master of Arts degree in administration from the University of Miami.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A documentary that follows the effort of Lake County tribes to protect their sacred sites against archaeological crimes has been nominated for an Emmy Award.
“Saving the Sacred” has been nominated for an Emmy in the best documentary, historical/cultural category, said Dino Beltran, a tribal council member for the Koi Nation of Lower Lake, one of the film’s producers.
Beltran said he received news of the nomination on Thursday.
His co-producer is Sherry Treppa, tribal chair for the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake.
“As native people no longer in control of our aboriginal lands it’s in our DNA to protect our lands but if we can’t do that then we must protect the historical and cultural artifacts that are evidence of our existence,” said Treppa. “This film educates the public on the topic and demonstrates that a community that values this culture and works together to protect it can be successful.”
Treppa said the goal was to educate and really demonstrate the power of community and hopefully entertain. An award wasn’t her goal, she added, but she’s happy people liked it.
The film is competing against a documentary by Hawaiian Airlines called “Ka Huaka’i: The Journey to Merrie Monarch.”
This is the second Emmy Beltran has been nominated for in his effort to preserve and document the tribal history of Lake County.
In June 2017, he was among a group that won the Emmy in the “Historic/ Cultural-Program/ Special” category for “A Walk Through Time: The Story of Anderson Marsh.”
By the time he won the Emmy, Beltran already was in the process of doing the groundwork for “Saving the Sacred,” which was started in 2018 and completed in 2019.
The topic of this film, which debuted in the fall of 2019, is Ancestors 1, the agreement the Koi Nation, the Habematolel Pomo, Elem Indian Colony and Robinson Rancheria entered into with the county of Lake and which the Board of Supervisors approved in December 2015.
The goal of the agreement, the sixth of its type in California, is to protect sacred sites through the development process. It also established formal relationships with the sheriff and district attorney to prosecute archaeological crimes.
The 28-minute film follows the efforts of Beltran and Treppa as they put the agreement together with the county government and other tribes.
Featured in the film are former Gov. Jerry Brown; Christina Snider, Native American Heritage Commission executive secretary and governor’s tribal advisor, Office of the Governor, who is herself Pomo; Sheriff Brian Martin; and Supervisor EJ Crandell.
Award-winning actor, director and documentary narrator Peter Coyote, who narrated “A Walk Through Time,” also narrated “Saving the Sacred.”
This year’s Emmy event will be a virtual ceremony on June 5.
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 early-stage NASA concept could see robots hang wire mesh in a crater on the Moon’s far side, creating a radio telescope to help probe the dawn of the universe.
After years of development, the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope, or LCRT, project has been awarded $500,000 to support additional work as it enters Phase II of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts, or NIAC, program.
While not yet a NASA mission, the LCRT describes a mission concept that could transform humanity’s view of the cosmos.
The LCRT’s primary objective would be to measure the long-wavelength radio waves generated by the cosmic Dark Ages – a period that lasted for a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, but before the first stars blinked into existence.
Cosmologists know little about this period, but believe the answers to some of science’s biggest mysteries may be locked in the long-wavelength radio emissions generated by the gas that would have filled the universe during that time.
“While there were no stars, there was ample hydrogen during the universe’s Dark Ages – hydrogen that would eventually serve as the raw material for the first stars,” said Joseph Lazio, radio astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and a member of the LCRT team. “With a sufficiently large radio telescope off Earth, we could track the processes that would lead to the formation of the first stars, maybe even find clues to the nature of dark matter.”
Radio telescopes on Earth can’t probe this mysterious period because the long-wavelength radio waves from that time are reflected by a layer of ions and electrons at the top of our atmosphere, a region called the ionosphere.
Random radio emissions from our noisy civilization can interfere with radio astronomy as well, drowning out the faintest signals.
But on the Moon’s far side, there’s no atmosphere to reflect these signals, and the Moon itself would block Earth’s radio chatter. The lunar far side could be prime real estate to carry out unprecedented studies of the early universe.
“Radio telescopes on Earth cannot see cosmic radio waves at about 33 feet or longer because of our ionosphere, so there’s a whole region of the universe that we simply cannot see,” said Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay, a robotics technologist at JPL and the lead researcher on the LCRT project. “But previous ideas of building a radio antenna on the Moon have been very resource intensive and complicated, so we were compelled to come up with something different.”
Building telescopes with robots
To be sensitive to long radio wavelengths, the LCRT would need to be huge. The idea is to create an antenna over half-a-mile wide in a crater over 2 miles wide.
The biggest single-dish radio telescopes on Earth – like the 1,600-foot Spherical Telescope, or FAST, in China and the now-inoperative 1,000-foot-wide Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico – were built inside natural bowl-like depressions in the landscape to provide a support structure.
This class of radio telescope uses thousands of reflecting panels suspended inside the depression to make the entire dish’s surface reflective to radio waves.
The receiver then hangs via a system of cables at a focal point over the dish, anchored by towers at the dish’s perimeter, to measure the radio waves bouncing off the curved surface below.
But despite its size and complexity, even FAST is not sensitive to radio wavelengths longer than about 14 feet.
With his team of engineers, roboticists, and scientists at JPL, Bandyopadhyay condensed this class of radio telescope down to its most basic form.
Their concept eliminates the need to transport prohibitively heavy material to the Moon and utilizes robots to automate the construction process.
Instead of using thousands of reflective panels to focus incoming radio waves, the LCRT would be made of thin wire mesh in the center of the crater.
One spacecraft would deliver the mesh, and a separate lander would deposit DuAxel rovers to build the dish over several days or weeks.
DuAxel, a robotic concept being developed at JPL, is composed of two single-axle rovers (called Axel) that can undock from each other but stay connected via a tether. One half would act as an anchor at the rim of the crater as the other rappels down to do the building.
“DuAxel solves many of the problems associated with suspending such a large antenna inside a lunar crater,” said Patrick Mcgarey, also a robotics technologist at JPL and a team member of the LCRT and DuAxel projects. “Individual Axel rovers can drive into the crater while tethered, connect to the wires, apply tension, and lift the wires to suspend the antenna.”
Identifying challenges
For the team to take the project to the next level, they’ll use NIAC Phase II funding to refine the capabilities of the telescope and the various mission approaches while identifying the challenges along the way.
One of the team’s biggest challenges during this phase is the design of the wire mesh. To maintain its parabolic shape and precise spacing between the wires, the mesh must be both strong and flexible, yet lightweight enough to be transported.
The mesh must also be able to withstand the wild temperature changes on the Moon’s surface – from as low as minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit to as high as 260 degrees Fahrenheit – without warping or failing.
Another challenge is to identify whether the DuAxel rovers should be fully automated or involve a human operator in the decision-making process.
Might the construction DuAxels also be complemented by other construction techniques? Firing harpoons into the lunar surface, for example, may better anchor the LCRT’s mesh, requiring fewer robots.
Also, while the lunar far side is “radio quiet” for now, that may change in the future. China’s space agency currently has a mission exploring the lunar far side, after all, and further development of the lunar surface could impact possible radio astronomy projects.
For the next two years, the LCRT team will work to identify other challenges and questions as well. Should they be successful, they may be selected for further development, an iterative process that inspires Bandyopadhyay.
“The development of this concept could produce some significant breakthroughs along the way, particularly for deployment technologies and the use of robots to build gigantic structures off Earth,” he said. “I’m proud to be working with this diverse team of experts who inspire the world to think of big ideas that can make groundbreaking discoveries about the universe we live in.”
NIAC is funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is responsible for developing the new cross-cutting technologies and capabilities needed by the agency.
Rachael A. Woldoff, West Virginia University and Robert Litchfield, Washington & Jefferson College
When the pandemic forced office employees into lockdown and cut them off from spending in-person time with their colleagues, they almost immediately realized that they favor remote work over their traditional office routines and norms.
Even before the pandemic, there were people asking whether office life jibed with their aspirations.
We spent years studying “digital nomads” – workers who had left behind their homes, cities and most of their possessions to embark on what they call “location independent” lives. Our research taught us several important lessons about the conditions that push workers away from offices and major metropolitan areas, pulling them toward new lifestyles.
Legions of people now have the chance to reinvent their relationship to their work in much the same way.
Big-city bait and switch
Most digital nomads started out excited to work in career-track jobs for prestigious employers. Moving to cities like New York and London, they wanted to spend their free time meeting new people, going to museums and trying out new restaurants.
But then came the burnout.
Although these cities certainly host institutions that can inspire creativity and cultivate new relationships, digital nomads rarely had time to take advantage of them. Instead, high cost of living, time constraints and work demands contributed to an oppressive culture of materialism and workaholism.
Pauline, 28, who worked in advertising helping large corporate clients to develop brand identities through music, likened city life for professionals in her peer group to a “hamster wheel.” (The names used in this article are pseudonyms, as required by research protocol.)
“The thing about New York is it’s kind of like the battle of the busiest,” she said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, you’re so busy? No, I’m so busy.’”
Most of the digital nomads we studied had been lured into what urbanist Richard Florida termed “creative class” jobs – positions in design, tech, marketing and entertainment. They assumed this work would prove fulfilling enough to offset what they sacrificed in terms of time spent on social and creative pursuits.
Yet these digital nomads told us that their jobs were far less interesting and creative than they had been led to expect. Worse, their employers continued to demand that they be “all in” for work – and accept the controlling aspects of office life without providing the development, mentorship or meaningful work they felt they had been promised. As they looked to the future, they saw only more of the same.
Ellie, 33, a former business journalist who is now a freelance writer and entrepreneur, told us: “A lot of people don’t have positive role models at work, so then it’s sort of like ‘Why am I climbing the ladder to try and get this job? This doesn’t seem like a good way to spend the next twenty years.’”
By their late 20s to early 30s, digital nomads were actively researching ways to leave their career-track jobs in top-tier global cities.
Looking for a fresh start
Although they left some of the world’s most glamorous cities, the digital nomads we studied were not homesteaders working from the wilderness; they needed access to the conveniences of contemporary life in order to be productive. Looking abroad, they quickly learned that places like Bali in Indonesia, and Chiang Mai in Thailand had the necessary infrastructure to support them at a fraction of the cost of their former lives.
With more and more companies now offering employees the choice to work remotely, there’s no reason to think digital nomads have to travel to southeast Asia – or even leave the United States – to transform their work lives.
During the pandemic, some people have already migrated away from the nation’s most expensive real estate markets to smaller cities and towns to be closer to nature or family. Many of these places still possess vibrant local cultures. As commutes to work disappear from daily life, such moves could leave remote workers with more available income and more free time.
The digital nomads we studied often used savings in time and money to try new things, like exploring side hustles. One recent study even found, somewhat paradoxically, that the sense of empowerment that came from embarking on a side hustle actually improved performance in workers’ primary jobs.
The future of work, while not entirely remote, will undoubtedly offer more remote options to many more workers. Although some business leaders are still reluctant to accept their employees’ desire to leave the office behind, local governments are embracing the trend, with several U.S. cities and states – along with countries around the world – developing plans to attract remote workers.
This migration, whether domestic or international, has the potential to enrich communities and cultivate more satisfying work lives.