LAKEPORT, Calif. – The city of Lakeport said it’s preparing this week to begin removal of some trees at the site of a new city park ahead of the construction set to start later this year.
The Lakefront Park is located at 800 and 810 N. Main St.
The Lakeport Public Works Department said that from Tuesday, Feb. 2, through Thursday, Feb. 4, there will be traffic control from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on North Main Street between Sixth and Ninth streets while crews remove some trees at the site.
The park is being funded by a $5.9 million grant the city received last February for land acquisition and development, as Lake County News has reported.
The city completed the acquisition of the 6.9 acres in the spring from the Hotaling family, which held a 1.5-acre section at 810 N. Main St., and the remaining parcel, formerly the Natural High school and Lakeport Elementary School location, from the Lakeport Unified School District. The city paid the Hotaling family $50,000 and the school district $660,000.
In November, the city council voted to use some of the city’s reserve funds to cover unanticipated cost increases.
On Monday, the city reported that it’s preparing the final construction plans for the new park, with construction slated to begin this summer.
Park improvements will include new concrete curb, gutter and sidewalk along the site’s North Main Street frontage, the city reported.
Sycamore trees in that area have lifted portions of the public sidewalk in recent years, which the city said can be a hazard to pedestrians. Fallen branches and limbs from these trees have also been a public safety concern.
As a result, the city said it has been determined that the five existing sycamore trees will be removed and replaced with five new 24-inch box sycamore trees. At maturity, box sycamores are reported to grow to between 40 and 80 feet tall.
The city said seven more similar-sized sycamore trees are planned to be planted in the new Lakefront Park along with approximately 40 other new trees.
In addition, the city said some trees along the shoreline of Clear Lake appear to be unhealthy and will likely be removed as part of the new park’s improvements.
The city said a professional arborist has been retained to determine which shoreline trees need to be removed. The goal is to keep as many healthy, mature trees as possible.
Officials said they are excited to begin construction on what they anticipate will be an “awesome addition to Lakeport’s park facilities and recreational activities.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors will recognize Black History Month, hear a report from a committee tasked to rehabilitate Clear Lake and consider a land sale.
The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, and will be available to the public virtually only. 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.
To participate in real-time, join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link at 9 a.m. The meeting ID is 994 2372 4048, password 971991. The meeting also can be accessed via on tap mobile at +16699006833,,99423724048#,,,,*971991# US (San Jose).
All interested members of the public that do not have internet access or a Mediacom cable subscription are encouraged to call 669-900-6833, and enter the Zoom meeting ID and passcode information above. To submit a written comment on any agenda item please visit https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and click on the eComment feature linked to the meeting date. If a comment is submitted after the meeting begins, it may not be read during the meeting but will become a part of the record.
At 9:06 a.m., Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace will give the board an update on COVID-19.
At 9:10 a.m., the board will present a proclamation designating the month of February 2021 Black History Month and celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday.
At 9:15 a.m., the board will recognize the Lake County Office of the Auditor-Controller/County Clerk for its receipt of the Government Finance Officers Association and State Controller’s Office Awards for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019.
At 9:20 a.m., the board will receive the annual report by the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake.
Among its untimed items, the board will have its weekly review of whether or not to keep its chambers closed to the public due to COVID-19.
Also in untimed items, the board will consider findings and recommendations of the Classification, Compensation Recruitment and Retention Committee regarding the application of the 2019 CPS-HR Classification and Total Compensation Study, which the board used late last year to begin rolling out millions of dollars in raises for county staff.
The board also will consider an agreement with Valley Oaks Land and Development Inc. for the sale of surplus county-owned property located at Arabian Lane in Hidden Valley Lake.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Adopt proclamation designating the month of February 2021 Black History Month.
5.2: Approve letters of support for the governor’s Proposed Wildfire and Forest Resilience Expenditure Plan and authorize the chair to sign.
5.3: Approve letter of support for Middletown Art Center’s 2021 Local Impact Grant application and authorize the chair to sign.
5.4: Approve letter of support for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act’s EHCY Grant Program and authorize the chair to sign.
5.5: Approve correction to a typographical error contained in the 2021 Committee Assignment roster from the Board of Supervisors meeting held on Jan. 5, 2021.
5.6: (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 Adventist Health St. Helena and Adventist Health Vallejo for the Fiscal Year 2020-21 for a contract maximum of $75,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.
5.7: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meetings Aug. 25, 2020; Oct. 20, 2020; Jan. 12, 2021; and Jan. 26, 2021.
5.8: 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 contract between county of Lake and Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc. for $28,000 per fiscal year from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023, and authorize the chair to sign.
5.9: Approve contract between the county of Lake and Lake Family Resource Center for differential response services in the amount of $70,000 per fiscal year from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023, and authorize the chair to sign.
5.10: Approve contract between county of Lake and Lake Family Resource Center for child abuse prevention and intervention services in the amount of $75,883 per fiscal year from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2024, and authorize the chair to sign.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:06 a.m.: Consideration of update on COVID-19.
6.3, 9:10 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the month of February 2021 Black History Month and celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday.
6.4, 9:15 a.m.: Recognition of the Lake County Office of the Auditor-Controller/County Clerk for Government Finance Officers Association and State Controller’s Office Awards for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019.
6.5, 9:20 a.m.: Consideration of annual report by the Blue Ribbon Committee.
6.6, 9:30 a.m.: Consideration to (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; (b) approve agreement for provision of satellite imagery services by Planet Labs to the county of Lake, authorizing the chair to sign.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration and Approval of Classification, Compensation Recruitment and Retention Committee findings and recommendations arising from Departmental 2019 CPS-HR Classification and Total Compensation Study review requests.
7.3: Consideration of the following advisory board appointments: Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee, Animal Control Advisory Board.
7.4: Consideration of purchase agreement between the county of Lake and Valley Oaks Land and Development Inc. for surplus property located at Arabian Lane, Hidden Valley Lake.
7.5: Reconsideration of temporary closure of the Board of Supervisors chambers for in-person meetings.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(2) (e)(3): - Claim of Earthways Foundation Inc.
8.2: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(1): Sabalone v. County of Lake.
8.3: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(1): Flesch v. County of Lake, et al.
8.4: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(1): Nichols v. County of Lake, et al.
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. – Although 2021 has just begun, the start of the new year brings to completion some of the projects the Lake County Land Trust put into motion in 2020, despite the pandemic.
The first, a monolith installed at Rabbit Hill by Marcus Maria Jung in June, was the outcome of the LOCUS grant awarded to the Middletown Art Center from the National Endowment of the Arts, which supported community workshops to install public art.
The Middletown Art Center, or MAC, selected the Lake County Land Trust’s Rabbit Hill because of its location in central Middletown; its juxtaposition with Middletown Trailside Park, the site of the EcoArts trail; and the idea that a sculpture placed at Rabbit Hill could be symbolic of the resilience and rejuvenation of both nature and a community after a devastating wildfire.
Jung’s structure, tentatively entitled “Animate Earth - Gateway to the Sky - 2021,” is now complete with four pine benches placed in consideration of the four directions.
A beckoning entranceway consists of rock found on-site, placed in a cascading fashion along the sides of a set of railroad tie steps nestled into the hillside at the top of Rabbit Hill.
At different intervals, the artist worked alongside Stan Archacki, Denis Sullivan, Glenneth Lampert, Francis Hornback, Lorindra Moonstar and MAC’s LOCUS students and volunteers in placing and securing the structures.
“One of the Lake County Land Trust’s favorite aspects of Rabbit Hill is the community’s enjoyment of the spot, and their sense of ownership of it,” said Melissa Kinsel, development director for the Lake County Land Trust. “They treat it as if it were an extension of their own backyards, walking through it, relaxing, and taking care of it. Rabbit Hill matters to Middletown residents and they take good care of it.”
Jung’s work and his description of it add to the new narrative of Rabbit Hill: “This installation is an invitation to the local community and visitors to come together and gather in a timeless space in the heart and soul of the land around us. The sky opens up as we come to share our prayers and offerings with this site, the land and the greater world. In return we receive the bountiful blessings of nature and the wisdom of the earth in all her beauty.”
Lisa Kaplan, executive and artistic director at MAC added, “The LOCUS project as a whole commemorates place, the resilience of flora and fauna lost to fire, where we are now as a community, and the vision we have for our future.”
Rabbit Hill Preserve is located at 21281 Stewart Street in Middletown, and is open to visitors and their leashed dogs from dawn to dusk.
New boardwalk at Rodman Preserve
A 216-foot-long redwood boardwalk was completed at the Rodman Preserve that will enable the Land Trust to lead its popular guided nature walks at the preserve even during the rainy season.
A portion of the trail is below lake level and gets swamped most years when the rains are heavy. This new elevated walkway will prevent this section from being impassable.
Funds for the new boardwalk came from the Rose Foundation, through its Cal Wildlands grant program.
Lumber and materials were purchased locally, and social-distanced volunteers including Bill Lincoln, Bob Schoenherr, Roberta Lyons, Val Nixon and Erica Lundquist met four times to cut, carry, install and secure the footings, framing and walkway planks.
A crew of 10 AmeriCorps volunteers who were isolating as a team and working on projects at Anderson March and Clear Lake State Park also pitched in to help for a day, completing in a day what would have normally taken three.
“When this is all over, we’ll have to have a toast with our supporters on the new boardwalk. We’re really looking forward to its debut. It’s remarkable what can be accomplished with a few dedicated volunteers even during a pandemic,” said Land Trust President Val Nixon.
Despite COVID-19 restrictions, a limited staff is on hand to open the preserve for self-guided walks on Tuesdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Interested parties are encouraged to call ahead to 707-262-0707 to ensure the gate is unlocked.
The Lake County Land Trust was founded in 1994 with the goal to protect and preserve important natural habitats and wild land areas of Lake County.
The Rodman Preserve, located on Westlake Drive off of the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff, is the organization's flagship property and also features a small nature center. The preserve totals over 200 acres and is home to a variety of flora and fauna. The Land Trust owns four properties in fee title and holds three conservation easements. One of its main efforts is to protect and preserve the remaining natural habitat on the shores of Clear Lake.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – More rain along with chances of fog and frosty conditions are in the forecast this week, with a break predicted in the weather by week’s end.
The National Weather Service is forecasting that showers will continue through Wednesday, to be followed by an anticipated dry period from Thursday through the weekend.
The agency’s forecast said its models are showing that an “upper disturbance” – which is defined as a high-altitude area of rotating air – will move southeast across the region on Wednesday morning, bringing with it an associated cold front.
At that time, there could be gusty winds and “a short period of relatively intense precipitation,” based on this week’s forecast. Across the North Coast, those high-altitude cold air conditions could bring snow to elevations above 1,500 to 2,500 feet, particularly from northern Mendocino County northward.
Conditions are expected to include very cold morning lows on Thursday and valley fog and frost out to coast areas, but otherwise dry weather is probable during the second half of the week, the forecast said.
The specific Lake County forecast calls for rain during the day on Tuesday, as well as light winds into the low double digits, and daytime temperatures topping out in the low 50s.
On Tuesday night, conditions are forecast to be partly cloudy, with a low of about 32 degrees, with calm winds of about 7 miles per hour.
For Wednesday, daytime conditions also will see temperatures in the low 50s, light winds and up to a tenth of an inch of rain, according to the forecast.
On Wednesday night, patchy fog and frost are forecast with winds of above 10 miles per hour and lows down to about 30 degrees.
Patchy fog is expected early Thursday, with conditions expected to clear and become sunny for the day. Daytime temperatures will edge into the high 50s and nighttime lows will drop to close to 30 degrees.
Sunny and warmer conditions are forecast for Lake County from Friday through Monday, with daytime temperatures in the low 60s but chillier nighttime conditions, with temperatures into the low 30s.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council will hold a public hearing to determine how to use funds it’s seeking through a grant program meant to help address the impacts of the pandemic.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2.
The meeting will be by teleconference only. The city council chambers will not be open to the public.
To speak on an agenda item, access the meeting remotely here or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799. The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; 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, Feb. 2.
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.
On Tuesday, the council will receive an informational presentation from the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake.
The council’s main item of business during the meeting will be to hold a public hearing as part of the process for seeking funds through the Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act – or CDBG-CV – program.
The council is expected to approve two new funding allocation and direct staff to proceed with the preparation of a CDBG-CV rounds 2 and 3 program application for the recommended purpose.
In her report to the council, Community Development Director Jenni Byers explained that the purpose of the public hearing is to solicit ideas from the public and provide direction to city staff on potential programs to include in the city’s CDBG-CV application.
She said activities allowed under the grant are a response to COVID-19 impacts, including short-term subsistence payments for households at risk of eviction and/or homelessness and housing costs for those exiting homelessness, homeless shelter operations, and health and education support services; public facility and infrastructure improvements; public facility acquisition, including health care facilities, emergency shelters and housing for persons experiencing homelessness in response to COVID-19 impacts; housing assistance; business assistance to help businesses retain employees or, for those businesses restarting after mandated COVID-19 related shutdowns, adding employees; and microenterprise assistance for businesses impacted by COVID-19 with five or fewer employees, including the business owner.
Byers said the city held an online community meeting on Jan. 21 and also released a survey to organizations, individuals and businesses requesting their input for the funding’s use.
She said 57 people responded and provided input. “The majority of responses indicated a positive response to using the funds for Economic Development activities such as business assistance and microenterprise assistance (5 or fewer employees), followed by Public Service (specifically rental assistance) and finally Public Facility and Infrastructure with a COVID nexus.
The survey will remain open here until Feb. 2 at 3 p.m. and staff will provide a discussion of those responses, she said.
Byers said city staff has met and discussed the potential of utilizing CDBG-CV monies to provide business assistance and to replace the HVAC system at the Silveira Community Center where ongoing COVID-19 testing is occurring three days a week under a memorandum of understanding with the Lake County Health Department. The center may also be used as a vaccination site for the residents of Lakeport.
She said city staff recently learned of a program that the state will be implementing to provide rental assistance for up to 12 months. “Therefore, rather than duplicate efforts, staff would recommend residents utilize the state program as individuals would not be able to receive CDBG funds and the State funding.”
Byers said staff recommends that $191,394 be allocated towards economic development activities and the remaining $50,000 be allocated under public facilities and infrastructure to replace the failing HVAC system so that residents may continue to have a local site for COVID-19 testing.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development, which oversees the state CDBG program, has noted that CDBG-CV monies should be expended quickly to address COVID-19-related needs.
“A program to provide business assistance and install the HVAC can be achieved quickly and would be made available to various community organizations involved in combating the effects of COVID-19 in our local area,” Byers said.
On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the regular council meeting on Jan. 19; warrants; and receipt and filing of the draft minutes of the Measure Z Advisory Committee meeting on Jan. 20.
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.
Tom Corringham, University of California San Diego
Ask people to name the world’s largest river, and most will probably guess that it’s the Amazon, the Nile or the Mississippi. In fact, some of Earth’s largest rivers are in the sky – and they can produce powerful storms, like the one now soaking California.
Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of moisture in the atmosphere that extend from the tropics to higher latitudes. These rivers in the sky can transport 15 times the volume of the Mississippi River. When that moisture reaches the coast and moves inland, it rises over the mountains, generating rain and snowfall and sometimes causing extreme flooding.
In the past 20 years, as observation networks have improved, scientists have learned more about these important weather phenomena. Atmospheric rivers occur globally, affecting the west coasts of the world’s major land masses, including Portugal, Western Europe, Chile and South Africa. So-called “Pineapple Express” storms that carry moisture from Hawaii to the U.S. West Coast are just one of their many flavors.
My research combines economics and atmospheric science to measure damage from severe weather events. Recently I led a team of researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Army Corps of Engineers in the first systematic analysis of damages from atmospheric rivers due to extreme flooding. We found that while many of these events are benign, the largest of them cause most of the flooding damage in the western U.S. And atmospheric rivers are predicted to grow longer, wetter and wider in a warming climate.
Rivers in the sky
On Feb. 27, 2019, an atmospheric river propelled a plume of water vapor 350 miles wide and 1,600 miles long through the sky from the tropical North Pacific Ocean to the coast of Northern California.
Just north of San Francisco Bay, in Sonoma County’s famed wine country, the storm dumped over 21 inches of rain. The Russian River crested at 45.4 feet – 13.4 feet above flood stage.
For the fifth time in four decades, the town of Guerneville was submerged under the murky brown floodwaters of the lower Russian River. Damages in Sonoma County alone were estimated at over US$100 million.
Events like these have drawn attention in recent years, but atmospheric rivers are not new. They have meandered through the sky for millions of years, transporting water vapor from the equator toward the poles.
In the 1960s meteorologists coined the phrase “Pineapple Express” to describe storm tracks that originated near Hawaii and carried warm water vapor to the coast of North America. By the late 1990s atmospheric scientists had found that over 90% of the world’s moisture from the tropics and subtropics was transported to higher latitudes by similar systems, which they named “atmospheric rivers.”
In dry conditions, atmospheric rivers can replenish water supplies and quench dangerous wildfires. In wet conditions, they can cause damaging floods and debris flows, wreaking havoc on local economies.
Helpful and harmful
Researchers have known for some time that flooding due to atmospheric rivers could cost a lot of money, but until our study no one had quantified these damages. We used a catalog of atmospheric river events compiled by Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, and matched it to 40 years of flood insurance records and 20 years of National Weather Service damage estimates.
We found that atmospheric rivers caused an average of $1.1 billion in flood damages yearly in the western U.S. More than 80% of all flooding damages in the West in the years we studied were associated with atmospheric rivers. In some areas, such as coastal northern California, these systems caused over 99% of damages.
Our data showed that in an average year, about 40 atmospheric rivers made landfall along the Pacific coast somewhere between Baja California and British Columbia. Most of these events were benign: About half caused no insured losses, and these storms replenished the region’s water supply.
But there were a number of exceptions. We used a recently developed atmospheric river classification scale that ranks the storms from 1 to 5, similar to systems for categorizing hurricanes and tornadoes. There was a clear link between these categories and observed damages.
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Atmospheric River category 1 (AR1) and AR2 storms caused estimated damages under $1 million. AR4 and AR5 storms caused median damages in the 10s and 100s of millions of dollars respectively. The most damaging AR4s and AR5s generated impacts of over $1 billion per storm. These billion-dollar storms occurred every three to four years.
A moister atmosphere means worse storms
Our most significant finding was an exponential relationship between the intensity of atmospheric rivers and the flood damages they caused. Each increase in the scale from 1 to 5 was associated with a 10-fold increase in damages.
Several recent studies have modeled how atmospheric rivers will change in the coming decades. The mechanism is simple: Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet. This causes more water to evaporate from oceans and lakes, and increased moisture in the air makes storm systems grow stronger.
Like hurricanes, atmospheric rivers are projected to grow longer, wider and wetter in a warming climate. Our finding that damages increase exponentially with intensity suggests that even modest increases in atmospheric river intensity could lead to significantly larger economic impacts.
Better forecasting is critical
I believe that improving atmospheric forecasting systems should be a priority for adapting to a changing climate. Better understanding of atmospheric rivers’ intensity, duration and landfall locations can provide valuable information to residents and emergency responders.
It also is important to discourage new construction in high-risk areas and help people move to safer locations after major disasters, rather than rebuilding in place.
Finally, our study underlines the need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. These storms will keep coming, and they’re getting stronger. In my view, stabilizing the global climate system is the only long-term way to minimize economic damage and risk to vulnerable communities.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – State Sen. Mike McGuire said he’s introduced a new bill to help kickstart the travel and hospitality industry, a sector that has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, McGuire and co-author Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva introduced SB 285, which would provide $45 million to Visit California to launch a strategic media and jobs recovery campaign to drive in-state travel to the businesses that have been hit so hard – our state’s renowned restaurants, hotels, and local destinations.
Visit California will multiply the value of the appropriation through newspapers and broadcast media, which have agreed to match the funds from the state.
“We all know the coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of so many Californians – some of the hardest hit are those 600,000 employees who lost their hospitality jobs. While we see light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine, we must set our sights on rebuilding our economy and supporting those who need it most. This strategic infusion of funds will help get hundreds of thousands of Californians back to work and hospitality-based businesses opened safely,” McGuire said.
California’s travel and hospitality industry is one of the largest economic drivers for the state.
Before COVID-19, more than 1.2 million California workers earned their livelihoods in hospitality, and visitors spent $145 billion annually at California businesses, generating $12.3 billion in state and local tax revenues.
The coronavirus has had an especially devastating impact on California’s travel and tourism industry.
Since last March, more than half of those 1.2 million hospitality workers lost their jobs, California lost $78.8 billion in visitor spending, and thousands of businesses have struggled to keep their doors open, even if only virtually.
McGuire represents Lake County, for which travel and tourism also is a particularly important sector.
In the initial months of the pandemic, the industry saw more than a 30-percent drop in jobs. Since then, it’s slowly built back.
In the latest jobless report, the California Employment Development Department reported that there were 1,020 jobs in the Lake County tourism as of December, which is still 12.1 percent down from the previous December.
Since the first statewide shelter-in-place last spring, Sen. McGuire said he has been working with a broad coalition of advocates – including labor, tourism, hospitality, and local chambers of commerce – to address the incredible challenges they are facing and help get over 600,000 hard-working hospitality employees back to work safely and strategically.
This campaign, which would be launched when the California Department of Public Health declares it is appropriate to resume travel, would emphasize that it is safe to travel and how to travel safely.
This current proposal is modeled after a previous action by the state of California following the 9-11 terrorist attacks, McGuire’s office said.
“As the chair of the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media, I am proud to be co-authoring this legislation with Senator McGuire,” said Assemblywoman Quirk-Silva. “I represent a district that hosts some of the prominent attractions that contribute significantly to our local and state economy, such as Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm and have seen the devastating domino effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our tourism industry. We need to establish a safe and responsible pathway to recovering one of the largest drivers of our state’s economy and more importantly, getting more than 600,000 Californians back to work.”
Sen. McGuire and Assemblymember Quirk-Silva have worked closely with a coalition of tourism industry advocates on this important next step.
“COVID-19 has hit the travel and tourism industry harder than any other. Prioritizing a one-time allocation to Visit California will ensure we stay competitive with other destinations once travel resumes, get workers back to their jobs, breathe life into our small businesses and communities, and ultimately help jump start a quick recovery of our economy,” said Barb Newton, president and CEO California Travel Association.
“The Teamsters represent thousands of California workers in tourism and hospitality who have been devastated by the pandemic. Our members in theme parks, rental car agencies, airlines, hotels, and countless other related industries have seen jobs, health benefits, and pensions reduced and eliminated. We applaud Senator McGuire’s effort to jump-start the recovery to make California once again a world-class travel destination,” said Rome Aloise, international vice president and joint Council 7 president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
With SB 285, the $45 million, one-time appropriation is projected to deliver $10.3 billion in revenue to California businesses and $865 million in additional state and local tax revenue.
The bill is co-authored by Senators Allen, Bradford, Cortese, Dahle, Dodd, Hurtado, Laird, Nielsen and Assemblymembers Bloom, Bigelow, Chiu, Cunningham, Davies, Christina Garcia, Grayson, Mullin, Nazarian, Santiago, Valladares and Wood.
This bi-partisan bill is supported by: UNITE HERE!, California Travel Association, California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, California Broadcast Association, California News Publishers Association, among many others.
Urban Indian Health Institute has released a study with the first ever national data regarding American Indian and Alaska Native peoples’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about a COVID-19 vaccine.
The study surveyed American Indians and Alaska Natives across 46 states – representing 318 different tribal affiliations – to gather information ranging from individuals’ willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine to the hurdles they face in accessing healthcare and resources.
“This data will be important to all organizations conducting COVID-19 vaccine education efforts,” said Abigail Echo-Hawk, director of UIHI. “Native communities have unique challenges and needs that usually are not considered in public health campaigns.”
American Indian and Alaska Native people continue to be disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates are 3.5 and 1.8 times that of non-Hispanic Whites, respectively.
While there has been worry about vaccine participation in native communities, 75 percent of study participants claimed they would be willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, higher than the national average according to an Ipsos survey from October 2020, which indicates that 64 percent of the U.S. general population was willing to receive a vaccine.
“Willingness to receive a vaccine and hesitancy are not mutually exclusive,” said Echo-Hawk. “Fear and distrust of government and medical systems still exists in our community, which are hurdles that we have to overcome.”
Echo-Hawk hopes the report can start to create a better understanding of the unique perspectives of native people.
“The data indicates that most native people willing to be vaccinated feel it is their responsibility for the health of their community,” Echo-Hawk said. “This shows what motivates our community when it comes to decision-making.”
The report’s key findings include:
• 75 percent of participants were willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. • 74 percent of participants claimed that getting vaccinated is their responsibility to their community. • 72 percent of participants wanted evidence that the vaccine is safe right now and in the long term. • 39 percent of all participants reported difficulty traveling to their clinic for an appointment. • Two-thirds of participants willing to get vaccinated were confident that COVID-19 vaccines were adequately tested for safety and effectiveness among Native people. • 75 percent of participants willing to get vaccinated had concerns about potential side effects. • 25 percent of participants were unwilling to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. • 90 percent of participants unwilling to get vaccinated recognized COVID-19 as a serious disease. • 89 percent of participants unwilling to get vaccinated had concerns about potential side effects.
The Urban Indian Health Institute is a public health authority and one of 12 tribal epidemiology centers in the country. It conducts research and evaluation, collects and analyzes data, and provides disease surveillance and resources to strengthen the health of American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has several more big dogs waiting for homes this week.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Belgian Malinois, German Shepherd, hound, husky, Labrador Retriever, mastiff, 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”).
This male husky-shepherd mix has a medium-length tan and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 14, ID No. 14318.
‘Sargent Chunk’
“Sargent Chunk” is a young male Rottweiler with a short red and black coat.
He is in kennel No. 15, ID No. 14303.
Pit bull puppy
This male pit bull puppy has a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 18, ID No. 14311.
Male pit bull terrier-hound
This young male pit bull terrier-hound mix has a medium-length brown coat.
He is in kennel No. 19, ID No. 14276.
Male shepherd
This male shepherd has a long tan and white coat.
He has been neutered.
He’s in kennel No. 27, ID No. 14319.
Male German Shepherd-husky mix
This male German Shepherd-husky mix has a medium-length black and tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He’s in kennel No. 28, ID No. 14307.
Male Belgian Malinois
This young male Belgian Malinois has a medium-length red and black coat.
He is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 14269.
Male pit bull terrier
This male pit bull terrier has a short blue and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 30, ID No. 14314.
Male Rottweiler
This male Rottweiler has a short black and brown coat.
He has been neutered.
He is in kennel No. 31, ID No. 14315.
German Shepherd-husky mix
This young male German Shepherd-husky mix has a medium-length black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 14309.
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.
Many of us will recall the American comedy film “Groundhog Day.”
Originally released in 1993, it stars the incomparable Bill Murray as Phil Conners, an insufferable Pittsburgh weatherman. A minor local celebrity who believes himself destined for much better things, he resents his piddling assignment to report on the Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
The plan is to return to Pittsburgh after the festivities. But when a blizzard shuts down the highway, Phil finds himself trapped in Punxsutawney. He wakes up the next day, only to discover that it’s not the next day at all. It’s Groundhog Day all over again.
For some reason he’s trapped in Feb. 2, forced to relive the same day over and over again.
“What if there is no tomorrow?” he asks at one point, adding: “There wasn’t one today.”
It is a question that will resonate with millions living in quarantine today – as people wake up every morning wondering if the day ahead will be any different from the 24 hours they have just endured.
But I have a more positive spin. As a scholar of communication and ethics, I argue that the lesson at the heart of the movie is that because we can never count on tomorrow, life must be lived fully in the present, not just for oneself, but also for others. Ultimately, “Groundhog Day” gives us a lesson in mindfulness.
Finally, Phil awakens, and it’s Feb. 3, that is, the next day.
I believe what brings about tomorrow for Phil is that he learns to practice mindfulness.
Phil’s repetitive existence can stand for a metaphor for mindlessness, for how we all get stuck in cycles of reactivity, addiction and habit. Locked in our routines, life can lose its luster.
It can quickly seem like nothing we do matters all that much. “What would you do if you were stuck in one place, and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?” Phil asks two local guys at the bowling alley. “That about sums it up for me,” one of them responds.
Contemporary practices of mindfulness can trace their roots back to Buddhism. For Buddhists, the concept of reincarnation or rebirth is important. Many Buddhists believe that all living beings go through many births until they achieve salvation.
As a scholar, I believe the idea of rebirth is more complex than is often understood in popular culture.
Pali is the ancient sacred language of Theravada Buddhism. Scholar of Buddhism Stephen Batchelor notes that the ancient Pali language word “punabbhava,” often translated as “rebirth,” literally means “again-becoming,” or what we might think of as “repetitive existence.”
That’s Phil’s life, stuck in Groundhog Day. That’s what Phil is trying to escape, and what we are all trying to escape in COVID times – repetitive existence, a life stuck in one gear, frozen by habits and patterns that make every day feel the same, as though nothing matters.
Taking a moment – to respond
If Phil’s stuckness is a metaphor for mindlessness, Phil’s awakening, I argue, is a metaphor for mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of experiencing life as it is happening, squarely in the now, without immediately reacting to it or being carried away by it.
Mindfulness is a practice of getting to know ourselves and our conditioning a little better. Conditioning is an automatic pattern of reacting to the world. By stepping out of autopilot, pausing, and noticing, many of us can find that we are no longer captive to our conditioning. Consequently, we gain the space to make choices about how we want to respond to life.
That is what Phil does in the movie – he escapes repetitive existence by overcoming his initial conditioned, obnoxious, egotistical reactions to the world. At the beginning of the film, he calls himself the “talent” and berates the “hicks” who live in the small town. He is too good for Groundhog Day. He wants to escape Punxsutawney as fast as possible.
As the film continues, Phil accepts his situation and turns repetition into an opportunity for growth. He begins to find meaning in the place where he is trapped. He embraces life, fully, which also means that he notices his own suffering and the suffering of those around him.
Phil addresses his own suffering by pursuing his passions and developing his skills. He learns to play the piano and becomes an accomplished ice sculptor.
Initially, Phil felt nothing for those around him. People were objects to him, if he noticed them at all. By the end of the film, he feels compassion, which, according to the mindfulness teacher Rhonda Magee, means “the will to act to alleviate the suffering of others.” Mindfulness is a practice that draws us into the world, into service. Compassion is at the heart of a mindfulness practice.
Mindfulness in pandemic times
Mindfulness does not mean turning away from difficulty. It is a practice of meeting difficulty with compassion. Though Phil finally accepts that there might not be a tomorrow, nevertheless he acts to ensure that if tomorrow comes for himself and those around him, it will be better than today.
For example, Phil saves the lives of at least two people: a young boy who, before Phil’s intervention, falls out of a tree onto a hard sidewalk, and the town’s mayor, who, before Phil bursts in to give him the Heimlich, chokes on his lunch.
Phil’s mindful awareness of what is happening in the moment allows him to act for tomorrow without losing track of today. Phil’s mindfulness, and his compassion, drive the film’s central love story between Phil and Rita. At the beginning of the film, he was capable of loving only himself. By the end of the film, Phil has learned to love mindfully.
According to Thich Nhat Hanh, loving mindfully means that “you must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.” Phil has learned that love is not about manipulation or possession but about collaboration in making a shared life together.
To the best of his ability, Phil dedicates himself to alleviating the suffering of others in a present that is real and for a future that might not come. He does this in small acts of compassion like fixing a flat tire and more momentous acts like saving a life. This mindful dedication to the future in the face of uncertainty is, I argue, what allows him to wake up to a new day.
This is a good lesson for us all, stuck, as we are, in a perpetual pandemic Groundhog Day, and dreaming, as we are, of tomorrow.
The California Employment Development Department said it has now processed a total of 19.6 million claims for unemployment benefits for workers in need due to the pandemic – far surpassing the claims total of 3.8 million in the worst year of the Great Recession in 2010.
The EDD has now resolved 99.9 percent of the 1.6 million backlogged claims identified by the EDD Strike Team in mid-September.
A backlogged claim is one that takes more than 21 days to issue first or further payment or disqualification, regardless if the claimant or EDD need to take some type of action.
The EDD said it will continue to provide weekly reports about the number of claims in process, including pending EDD action that delays payment beyond 21 days.
There will always be claims initiated by individuals who do not certify their eligibility for payment and abandon their claim. This agency said this happens for many reasons, including because the claimant returns to work or when the claim is fraudulent.
Additionally, there will always be more complex claims that take longer than 21 days to resolve, which is acknowledged by the U.S Department of Labor in their performance measures for states.
With that in mind, the EDD said it will adjust the data reflected on dashboards to better illustrate how many claims are in the queue awaiting EDD action beyond 21 days.
EDD is working on a new, more user-friendly dashboard and offers this clarification on the updates in the current two separate backlog dashboards.
Approximately 91 percent of the more than 900,000 unique claimants reflected on the two current dashboards come from these two categories: “Waiting for Claimant Certification” category on the current Initial Claims dashboard, and the “Potential Overpayment Non-Fault Queue” which is a subset of the “Resolving Other Eligibility Issues” category on the Continued Claims dashboard.
Changes on reporting this data in the new dashboard will include:
• In alignment with the recommendations from the state auditor, the EDD will remove the data that reflects “waiting for claimants to certify.” The EDD continues outreach to claimants about the requirement for completing a certification of eligibility before the first and any further payment every two weeks can be issued. Beyond that, this data does not constitute EDD work that is preventing payment.
• EDD will also remove the “potential overpayment” data. This work by EDD to assess if individuals may have received more in benefits than they qualify for does not prevent payments from being made.
Most of those remaining 9 percent of data reflected in the two backlog dashboards are associated with EDD’s efforts to implement the newly extended Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits, where new weeks of benefits are being added to older claims.
Status of suspended claims pending verification
The EDD recently suspended a total of 1.4 million claims that were deemed to be potentially fraudulent after applying additional screening. Emails and mailed notices started going out in early January to all individuals associated with these claims with instructions to either validate their identity, or that their eligibility must be determined before payments could resume. To date, only about half of the individuals two whom EDD sent emails have opened those emails.
The current breakdown includes:
• 1.1 million individuals were directed to ID.me for identity verification and have 30 days to respond from the date of their notice. So far, more than 300,000 have validated their identity through ID.me. Once EDD receives that information, if otherwise eligible, the payment barriers associated with the identity verification are lifted. It can take 7-10 days for the process to be completed and payment issued. Until then, claimants are encouraged to continue to certify for benefits in UI Online to prevent delays.
The EDD strongly encourages claimants to review the ID.me step-by-step guidance provided to fully utilize the fast and efficient self-service option for validating identity. This will help claimants avoid the wait times for an ID.me trusted referee via video chat.
Currently, 88 percent of claimants are able to utilize this self-service feature to quickly verify and protect their account.
• Another approximately 100,000 claimants without a UI Online account were mailed paper requests for identity verification. Once EDD receives and processes that information, if the claimant is otherwise eligible similar action is taken to lift the associated payment barriers and process the claim for payment.
The EDD strongly encourages claimants to register for an UI Online account to utilize the document upload feature to quickly verify and protect their account.
• The remaining 200,000 individuals are either receiving requests to validate their eligibility (other than identity), or are receiving a Notice of Determination explaining the reason for disqualification from benefits and their right to appeal.
Guidance for claimants who collected benefits from EDD in 2020
EDD is in the process of issuing a record 7.8 million Form 1099G federal tax forms to individuals who received benefits in 2020, such as unemployment, some types of Disability Insurance, or Paid Family Leave.
The fastest way to retrieve this form and related information is through a personal UI Online account, though forms are arriving by mail for those who did not opt for electronic form only. Information about opening an UI Online account is available on the File for Unemployment Overview Webpage.
Since the annual 1099G process for federal tax purposes may be new to many Californians, individuals are encouraged to visit EDD’s Tax Information webpage for more information, or access other tips and a helpful video through this one-page guide.
EDD staff will also assist by phone:
• Call 1-866-333-4606 if claimants don’t find their 1099G information in their UI Online account or to request a copy sent by mail. This is a self-serve line.
• Call 1-866-401-2849 if claimants don’t agree with the amount noted on their form or received it erroneously and need the issue corrected. This designated call center line is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on state holidays.
Individuals who suspect fraud can also visit EDD’s Help Fight Fraud webpage to learn how to report fraud and find information on protecting yourself from identity theft, and can also report fraud through AskEDD.
Seven minutes of harrowing descent to the Red Planet is in the not-so-distant future for the agency’s Mars 2020 mission.
NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission is just 22 days from landing on the surface of Mars. The spacecraft has about 25.6 million miles (41.2 million kilometers) remaining in its 292.5-million-mile (470.8-million-kilometer) journey and is currently closing that distance at 1.6 miles per second (2.5 kilometers per second).
Once at the top of the Red Planet’s atmosphere, an action-packed seven minutes of descent awaits – complete with temperatures equivalent to the surface of the Sun, a supersonic parachute inflation, and the first ever autonomous guided landing on Mars.
Only then can the rover – the biggest, heaviest, cleanest, and most sophisticated six-wheeled robotic geologist ever launched into space – search Jezero Crater for signs of ancient life and collect samples that will eventually be returned to Earth.
“NASA has been exploring Mars since Mariner 4 performed a flyby in July of 1965, with two more flybys, seven successful orbiters, and eight landers since then,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “Perseverance, which was built from the collective knowledge gleaned from such trailblazers, has the opportunity to not only expand our knowledge of the Red Planet, but to investigate one of the most important and exciting questions of humanity about the origin of life both on Earth and also on other planets.”
Jezero Crater is the perfect place to search for signs of ancient microbial life. Billions of years ago, the now-bone-dry 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer-wide) basin was home to an actively-forming river delta and lake filled with water.
The rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) that Perseverance’s Sample Caching System collects from Jezero could help answer fundamental questions about the existence of life beyond Earth.
Two future missions currently in the planning stages by NASA, in collaboration with ESA (European Space Agency), will work together to bring the samples back to Earth, where they will undergo in-depth analysis by scientists around the world using equipment far too large and complex to send to the Red Planet.
“Perseverance’s sophisticated science instruments will not only help in the hunt for fossilized microbial life, but also expand our knowledge of Martian geology and its past, present, and future,” said Ken Farley, project scientist for Mars 2020, from Caltech in Pasadena, California. “Our science team has been busy planning how best to work with what we anticipate will be a firehose of cutting-edge data. That’s the kind of ‘problem’ we are looking forward to.”
Testing future tech
While most of Perseverance’s seven science instruments are geared toward learning more about the planet’s geology and astrobiology, the mission also carries technologies more focused on future Mars exploration.
MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment), a car-battery-size device in the rover’s chassis, is designed to demonstrate that converting Martian carbon dioxide into oxygen is possible.
Future applications of the technology could produce the vast quantities of oxygen that would be needed as a component of the rocket fuel astronauts would rely on to return to Earth, and, of course, the oxygen could be used for breathing as well.
The Terrain-Relative Navigation system helps the rover avoid hazards. MEDLI2 (the Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation 2) sensor suite gathers data during the journey through the Martian atmosphere. Together the systems will help engineers design future human missions that can land more safely and with larger payloads on other worlds.
Another technology demonstration, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, is attached to the belly of the rover. Between 30 and 90 days into the rover’s mission, Ingenuity will be deployed to attempt the first experimental flight test on another planet.
If that initial flight is successful, Ingenuity will fly up to four more times. The data acquired during these tests will help the next generation of Mars helicopters provide an aerial dimension to Mars exploration.
Getting ready for the red planet
Like people around the world, members of the Mars 2020 team have had to make significant modifications to their approach to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While a majority of the team members have performed their jobs via telework, some tasks have required an in-person presence at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which built the rover for the agency and is managing the mission.
Such was the case earlier this month when the team that will be on-console at JPL during landing went through a three-day-long COVID-adapted full-up simulation of the upcoming Feb. 18 Mars landing.
“Don’t let anybody tell you different – landing on Mars is hard to do,” said John McNamee, project manager for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission at JPL. “But the women and men on this team are the best in the world at what they do. When our spacecraft hits the top of the Mars atmosphere at about three-and-a-half miles per second, we’ll be ready.”
Less than a month of dark, unforgiving interplanetary space remains before the landing. NASA Television and the agency’s website will carry live coverage of the event from JPL beginning at 11:15 a.m. PST (2:15 p.m. EST).
More about the mission
A key objective of Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.
Subsequent missions, currently under consideration by NASA in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 mission is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis lunar exploration plans.
JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.