LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The sunny and warm weather Lake County has been enjoying for the past week is about to give way to more rain this week.
The National Weather Service is predicting the dry and “unseasonably mild weather” will continue during the first half of the week.
Rain is then forecast to arrive on Friday and continue with chances of showers into Monday.
Temperatures will drop to the high 40s during the day and into the high 30s at night during that time, according to the forecast.
Throughout the North Coast region, there also will be chances of snow in the higher elevations, beginning at between 5,000 and 6,000 feet on Thursday and dropping to the range of 3,500 to 4,500 feet.
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 council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. Masks are highly encouraged where 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained.
If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link 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 before 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19.
On Tuesday, the council will start off the evening with the introduction of new employees Bryan Carlson, Mel Olea, Jen Baker and Michelle Brown.
The council will hold a public hearing ahead of its consideration of adopting a 2% permit fee for permit processing, inspections, public awareness and education campaigns, and fire operations and suppression efforts related to the sale of safe and sane fireworks.
City documents indicate the city already has a 5% permit fee on the fireworks.
The city of Lakeport is the only place in Lake County where fireworks are permitted. That’s because voters passed Measure C in November 2009 after the council had attempted to end fireworks sales.
In council business, staff will ask council members to adopt a proposed resolution authorizing the submittal of an application to the California State Department of Housing and Community Development for funding under the HOME Investment Partnership Program.
City Manager Kevin Ingram also will present a progress update on staff’s work to meet the 2023-24 departmental goals.
On the consent agenda — items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote — are ordinances; minutes of the City Council’s regular meetings on March 5; receipt and filing of the 2023 Housing Element Annual Progress Report; and receipt and filing of the 2023 2nd Quarter Community Development Report.
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.
In an effort to immediately tackle California’s budget challenge early in the year, Senate Leader Mike McGuire (D-North Coast) and Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Committee Chair Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) have announced a plan by Senate Democrats to shrink the shortfall through decisive early action on the budget.
Recent reports indicate the projected budget shortfall has grown by an additional $15 billion, resulting in a potential shortfall range from $38 billion to $53 billion.
The Senate’s early action plan would reduce the shortfall by over $17 billion.
This immediate action takes the shortfall range down to a more manageable $9 billion to $24 billion and enables final budget negotiations later in the year to focus on closing the remaining gap while working to protect the progress of core programs that California has made in recent years.
With a balanced mix of $17 billion of program reductions and other solutions, along with adopting the governor’s proposed use of the Rainy Day Fund, the Senate’s “Shrink the Shortfall” early action plan is step one of this year’s budget process, which will ultimately lead to a balanced, on-time budget for 2024-25.
The Shrink the Shortfall early action plan will be heard in the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee and could come up for a vote on the Senate Floor as soon as there is agreement with the Assembly and governor.
“When times are tight at home, people buckle down and do what needs to be done. That’s what the Golden State has to do right now too. The quicker we move, the quicker we’ll be able to reduce the deficit, and we know we have to move decisively because the budget shortfall is real and serious,” said McGuire.
He said the Senate’s plan to shrink the shortfall protects core programs, includes no new tax increases for Californians, makes necessary reductions, and takes a prudent approach to utilizing the Rainy Day Fund so the state can be prepared for any future tough times. “We look forward to buckling down with Governor Newsom, Speaker Rivas, and our Assembly partners on these responsible early actions, and on an overall state budget that protects our progress for all Californians.”
“After years of strong progress to advance California values, we face a huge budget challenge. I’m honored to be working hand in glove with Pro Tem McGuire and our Senate colleagues to advance smart solutions that address the deficit while protecting our progress. Time is truly of the essence,” said Wiener.
He added, “The early actions we’re proposing, including $17 billion in General Fund solutions, not only reduce the size of the deficit in this budget year and the next, but also give us more time to develop thoughtful solutions to address the shortfall that will remain. Let’s be clear: Shrinking the shortfall early in the process is step one. The Senate’s 2024-25 budget plan will be released later in the spring and will provide a comprehensive proposal for a balanced, responsible budget that protects core programs and services and positions the Governor and the Legislature to best protect California’s progress.”
Mike McGuire is president pro tempore of the California Senate. He represents the North Coast of California, which stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border, including Del Norte, Trinity, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Economic Development Corp., in partnership with the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, has announced the launch of a new program to assist Latino business owners and potential entrepreneurs.
El Centro Latino Del Lago is an ongoing business advising program, and its inaugural six-week training program launches March 27.
The training will include two networking events and six classroom training workshops and will be delivered exclusively in Spanish.
Program participants who successfully complete the courses, along with their families, will be invited to attend a graduation celebration on May 30th.
The first mixer will be March 27 at 6 p.m. at La Chilanguita in Clearlake. This free event will allow business owners to learn more about the program, meet the consultants from the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, or CAHCC, that will lead the workshops, and network with other Lake County Latino business owners. Refreshments will be provided.
Workshop topics include how to start a business, business planning, marketing, cost analysis and strategies for success.
For more information, and to sign up, visit: https://lakecountycaedc.org/centro-latino-del-lago/.
This program is supported by the FHL of San Francisco, in partnership with Vocality Credit Union.
Funded in part through a Grant or cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
La Corporación de Desarrollo Económico del Condado de Lake (Lake EDC), en asociación con la Cámara de Comercio del Condado de Lake (LCCC) y la Cámara de Comercio Hispana de California (CAHCC), se complace en anunciar el lanzamiento de un nuevo programa para ayudar a los propietarios y potenciales empresarios latinos.
El Centro Latino Del Lago es un programa continuo de asesoramiento empresarial y su programa inaugural de capacitación de seis semanas se lanza el 27 de marzo. La capacitación incluirá dos eventos de networking y seis talleres de capacitación presenciales que se impartirán exclusivamente en español. Los participantes del programa que completen exitosamente los cursos, junto con sus familias, serán invitados a asistir a una celebración de graduación el 30 de mayo.
La primera reunión será el 27 de marzo a las 6:00 de la tarde, en La Chilanguita en Clearlake. Este evento gratuito permitirá a los dueños de negocios aprender más sobre el programa, conocer a los consultores de CAHCC que dirigirán los talleres y establecer contactos con otros dueños de negocios latinos del condado de Lake. Se proporcionarán refrigerios.
Los temas del taller incluyen cómo iniciar un negocio, planificación empresarial, marketing, análisis de costos y estrategias para el éxito. Para obtener más información y registrarse, visite: https://lakecountycaedc.org/centro-latino-del-lago/.
Este programa cuenta con el apoyo de FHL de San Francisco, en asociación con Vocality Credit Union. Financiado en parte a través de una subvención o acuerdo cooperativo con la Administración de Pequeñas Empresas de EE. UU. y la Oficina de Desarrollo Económico y Empresarial del Gobernador.
A new study published in The Lancet reveals never-before-seen details about staggeringly high mortality from the COVID-19 pandemic within and across countries.
Places such as Mexico City, Peru and Bolivia had some of the largest drops in life expectancy from 2019 to 2021.
The research, which presents updated estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, provides the most comprehensive look at the pandemic’s toll on human health to date, indicating that global life expectancy dropped by 1.6 years from 2019 to 2021, a sharp reversal from past increases.
Among other key findings from the Global Burden of Disease, or GBD, child mortality continued to drop amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with half a million fewer deaths among children under 5 in 2021 compared to 2019. Mortality rates among children under 5 decreased by 7% from 2019 to 2021.
“For adults worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a more profound impact than any event seen in half a century, including conflicts and natural disasters,” says co-first author Dr. Austin E. Schumacher, acting assistant professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME, at the University of Washington. “Life expectancy declined in 84% of countries and territories during this pandemic, demonstrating the devastating potential impacts of novel pathogens.”
Researchers from IHME identified high mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in places that were previously less recognized and/or reported.
For example, the study reveals that after accounting for the age of the population, countries such as Jordan and Nicaragua had high excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic that was not apparent in previous all-age excess mortality estimates.
In analyzing subnational locations not previously investigated, the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo had among the highest age-adjusted excess mortality rates and largest life expectancy declines during the pandemic in the world.
Conversely, the places with some of the lowest age-adjusted excess mortality from the pandemic during this period included Barbados, New Zealand, and Antigua and Barbuda.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, mortality among older people worldwide rose in ways unseen in the previous 70 years. While the pandemic was devastating, killing approximately 16 million people around the globe in 2020 and 2021 combined, it did not completely erase historic progress — life expectancy at birth rose by nearly 23 years between 1950 and 2021.
GBD 2021 analyzes past and current demographic trends at global, regional, national, and subnational levels.
The study provides globally comparable measures of excess mortality and is one of the first studies to fully evaluate demographic trends in the context of the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In estimating excess deaths due to the pandemic, the authors accounted for deaths from the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, as well as deaths associated with indirect effects of the pandemic, such as delays in seeking health care.
Employing innovative methods to measure mortality, excess mortality from the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy, and population, the study authors estimate that the pandemic caused global mortality to jump among people over age 15, rising by 22% for males and 17% for females from 2019 to 2021.
GBD 2021 goes beyond assessing the impact of the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the authors note, it also offers “implications for the future of health-care systems, economies, and societies and ... a valuable foundation for policy evaluation, development, and implementation around the world.”
GBD 2021 indicates that, despite early warnings that COVID-19 could threaten the gains that the world had made in saving children’s lives, these improvements continued during the pandemic, albeit at a slower pace.
Still, stark differences in child mortality persist between regions. In 2021, one out of every four children who died worldwide lived in South Asia, while two out of every four children who died lived in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Our study suggests that, even after taking stock of the terrible loss of lives the world experienced due to the pandemic, we have made incredible progress over 72 years since 1950, with child mortality continuing to drop globally,” said co-first author Dr. Hmwe Hmwe Kyu, Associate Professor of Health Metrics Sciences at IHME at the University of Washington. “Now, continuing to build on our successes, while preparing for the next pandemic and addressing the vast disparities in health across countries, should be our greatest focuses.”
The GBD 2021 study also assessed population trends. Beginning in 2017, the rate of global population growth began to drop following years of stagnation. Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, these declines accelerated.
As of 2021, 56 countries have reached peak population. Now, these countries are seeing their populations shrink. However, rapid population growth has continued in many lower-income countries. In addition, populations around the world are aging.
Between 2000 and 2021, the number of people who were 65 and older grew faster than the number of people under age 15 in 188 countries and territories.
“Slowing population growth and aging populations, along with the concentration of future population growth shifting to poorer locations with worse health outcomes, will bring about unprecedented social, economic, and political challenges, such as labor shortages in areas where younger populations are shrinking and resource scarcity in places where population size continues to expand rapidly,” says Dr. Schumacher. “This is worth restating, as these issues will require significant policy forethought to address in the affected regions. As one example, nations around the world will need to cooperate on voluntary emigration, for which one source of useful guidance is the UN’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.”
The COVID-19 virus can persist in the blood and tissue of patients for more than a year after the acute phase of the illness has ended, according to new research from UC San Francisco that offers potential clues to why some people develop long COVID.
The scientists found pieces of SARS-CoV-2, referred to as COVID antigens, lingering in the blood up to 14 months after infection and for more than two years in tissue samples from people who had COVID.
“These two studies provide some of the strongest evidence so far that COVID antigens can persist in some people, even though we think they have normal immune responses,” said Michael Peluso, MD, an infectious disease researcher in the UCSF School of Medicine, who led both studies.
The findings were presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), which was held March 3 to 6, 2024, in Denver.
Evidence of long-term infection
Early in the pandemic, COVID-19 was thought to be a transient illness. But a growing number of patients, even those who had previously been healthy, continued having symptoms, such as, brain fog, digestive problems and vascular issues, for months or even years.
The researchers looked at blood samples from 171 people who had been infected with COVID. Using an ultra-sensitive test for the COVID “spike” protein, which helps the virus break into human cells, the scientists found the virus was still present up to 14 months later in some people.
Among those who were hospitalized for COVID, the likelihood of detecting the COVID antigens was about twice as high as it was for those who were not. It was also higher for those who reported being sicker but were not hospitalized.
“As a clinician, these associations convince me that we are on to something, because it makes sense that someone who had been sicker with COVID would have more antigen that can stick around,” Peluso said.
Virus persists up to two years in tissue
Since the virus is believed to persist in the tissue reservoirs, the scientists turned to UCSF’s Long COVID Tissue Bank, which contains samples donated by patients with and without long COVID.
They detected portions of viral RNA for up to two years after infection, although there was no evidence that the person had become reinfected. They found it in the connective tissue where immune cells are located, suggesting that the viral fragments were causing the immune system to attack. In some of the samples, the researchers found that the virus could be active.
Peluso said more research is needed to determine whether the persistence of these fragments drives long COVID and such associated risks as heart attack and stroke.
But, based on these findings, Peluso’s team at UCSF is involved in multiple clinical trials that are testing whether monoclonal antibodies or antiviral drugs can remove the virus and improve the health of people with long COVID.
“There is a lot more work to be done, but I feel like we are making progress in really understanding the long-term consequences of this infection,” Peluso said.
Authors: Additional UCSF co-authors include Sarah Goldberg, MAS, Brian H. LaFranchi, Scott Lu, MD, Thomas Dalhuisen, MS, Badri Viswanathan, Ma Somsouk, MD, MAS, J.D. Kelly, MD, Steven G. Deeks, MD, Zoltan Laszik, MD, PhD, Jeffrey Martin, MD, MPH, and Timothy J. Henrich, MD.
Funding: The studies were supported by funding from the PolyBio Research Foundation to support UCSF’s Long-Term Impact of Infection with Novel Coronavirus (LIINC) Clinical Core and a Merck Investigator Studies Program Grant. The National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases also provided funding (3R01AI1411003-03S1, R01AI158013 and K23AI134327, K23AI157875 and K24AI145806). Additional support came from the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Department of Medicine and Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine.
Anna Localio, University of Washington and Jessica Jones-Smith, University of Washington
School meals are critical to child health. Research has shown that school meals can be more nutritious than meals from other sources, such as meals brought from home.
A recent study that one of us conducted found the quality of school meals has steadily improved, especially since the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act strengthened nutrition standards for school meals. In fact, by 2017, another study found that school meals provided the best diet quality of any major U.S. food source.
Many American families became familiar with universal free school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. To ease the financial and logistical burdens of the pandemic on families and schools, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued waivers that allowed schools nationwide to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. However, these waivers expired by the 2022-23 school year.
Since that time, there has been a substantial increase in schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision, a federal policy that allows schools in high poverty areas to provide free breakfast and lunch to all attending students. The policy became available as an option for low-income schools nationwide in 2014 and was part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. By the 2022-23 school year, over 40,000 schools had adopted the Community Eligibility Provision, an increase of more than 20% over the prior year.
President Harry Truman established the National School Lunch Program in 1946, with the stated goal of protecting the health and well-being of American children. The program established permanent federal funding for school lunches, and participating schools were required to provide free or reduced-price lunches to children from qualifying households. Eligibility is determined by income based on federal poverty levels, both of which are revised annually.
In 1966, the Child Nutrition Act piloted the School Breakfast Program, which provides free, reduced-price and full-price breakfasts to students. This program was later made permanent through an amendment in 1975.
The Community Eligibility Provision was piloted in several states beginning in 2011 and became an option for eligible schools nationwide beginning in 2014. It operates through the national school lunch and school breakfast programs and expands on these programs.
The policy allows all students in a school to receive free breakfast and lunch, rather than determine eligibility by individual households. Entire schools or school districts are eligible for free lunches if at least 40% of their students are directly certified to receive free meals, meaning their household participated in a means-based safety net program, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or the child is identified as runaway, homeless, in foster care or enrolled in Head Start. Some states also use Medicaid for direct certification.
The Community Eligibility Provision increases school meal participation by reducing the stigma associated with receiving free meals, eliminating the need to complete and process applications and extending access to students in households with incomes above the eligibility threshold for free meals. As of 2023, the eligibility threshold for free meals is 130% of the federal poverty level, which amounts to US$39,000 for a family of four.
Universal free meals and obesity
We analyzed whether providing universal free meals at school through the Community Eligibility Provision was associated with lower childhood obesity before the COVID-19 pandemic.
To do this, we measured changes in obesity prevalence from 2013 to 2019 among 3,531 low-income California schools. We used over 3.5 million body mass index measurements of students in fifth, seventh and ninth grade that were taken annually and aggregated at the school level. To ensure rigorous results, we accounted for differences between schools that adopted the policy and eligible schools that did not. We also followed the same schools over time, comparing obesity prevalence before and after the policy.
We found that schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision had a 2.4% relative reduction in obesity prevalence compared with eligible schools that did not participate in the provision. Although our findings are modest, even small improvements in obesity levels are notable because effective strategies to reduce obesity at a population level remain elusive. Additionally, because obesity disproportionately affects racially and ethnically marginalized and low-income children, this policy could contribute to reducing health disparities.
The Community Eligibility Provision likely reduces obesity prevalence by substituting up to half of a child’s weekly diet with healthier options and simultaneously freeing up more disposable income for low-to-middle-income families. Families receiving free breakfast and lunch save approximately $4.70 per day per child, or $850 per year. For low-income families, particularly those with multiple school-age children, this could result in meaningful savings that families can use for other health-promoting goods or services.
Growing research is showing the benefits of universal free school meals for the health and well-being of children. Along with our study of California schools, other researchers have found an association between universal free school meals and reduced obesity in Chile, South Korea and England, as well as among New York City schools and school districts in New York state.
While our research observed a reduction in the prevalence of obesity among schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision relative to schools that did not, obesity increased over time in both groups, with a greater increase among nonparticipating schools.
Universal free meals policies may slow the rise in childhood obesity rates, but they alone will not be sufficient to reverse these trends. Alongside universal free meals, identifying other population-level strategies to reduce obesity among children is necessary to address this public health issue.
As of 2023, several states have implemented their own universal free school meals policies. States such as California, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota and New Mexico have pledged to cover the difference between school meal expenditures and federal reimbursements. As more states adopt their own universal free meals policies, understanding their effects on child health and well-being, as well as barriers and supports to successfully implementing these programs, will be critical.
The gender wage gap — the difference between what men and women earn — is an often-cited marker of the progress women are making in the work force typically measured by comparing the average earnings of men and women.
Previous U.S. Census Bureau research has explored the gender wage gap and how it varies with social, economic and demographic characteristics.
Now, new U.S. Census Bureau research takes it a step further by comparing male and female earnings for graduates of similar educational programs. Rather than comparing male and female wages and controlling for education, it looks at the earnings of men and women with the same level and quality of education.
This research provides new information about the gender pay gap across a range of postsecondary education levels from graduates of the most selective bachelor programs to graduates of certificate programs.
The Census Bureau analyzed the earnings of graduates from certificate, associate and bachelor’s programs for up to 15 years. It estimated the magnitude of the earnings gap at these educational levels and three factors that may contribute to it: field of study; occupation and industry after graduation; and number of weeks and hours worked in a year.
This research was made possible by a partnership between the Census Bureau and state higher education systems, which provided student transcript records that can be linked to other datasets.
In this case, the student records were linked to the American Community Survey (ACS) to gauge post-graduation outcomes such as earnings, occupation, childbearing, and the number of weeks and hours worked. The ACS is the premier source of detailed population and housing information about our nation.
Researchers analyzed the gender pay gap using a statistical model that answered the following questions for each degree level considered:
• How large was the gap between men’s and women’s earnings, on average? • How much of this gap was driven by women and men majoring in different fields? • Among women and men with the same education level who graduated in the same field, how much of the gap stemmed from women and men working in different occupations and industries? • Among men and women with the same education level, who graduated in the same field and worked in the same occupation, how much of the gap was caused by women and men participating in the workforce at different rates and working different numbers of weeks and hours-per-week during the year? • How much of the gender pay gap was due to other factors?
Answers differed considerably depending on whether someone graduated from a certificate or selective bachelor’s program.
The size of the gender earnings gap
The gap in average earnings from 2005 to 2019 was consistent across all education levels. As shown in Figure 1, women with a certificate degree earned 71.2 cents for every dollar earned by men with a certificate degree. In other words, the gap was 28.8%. For graduates of the most selective bachelor’s institutions, as defined by the Barron’s Admissions Competitiveness Index, the gap was 28.4%.
This gap is larger than the 84 cents for every dollar earned figure reported by the White House, which compares full-time, year-round working men and women. The comparisons in this report are between graduates.
Field of study
College major or field of study accounted for a substantial portion of the gap at higher education levels but were less significant at lower levels.
For example, 3.8% of the gender gap in earnings among those with certificate degrees was attributed to choice of major/field of study, compared to 24.6% among graduates of the most selective bachelor’s programs (Figure 2).
After accounting for differences in choice of major, the share of the gap due to occupation and industry chosen was nearly the same regardless of education level.
Occupational choices accounted for 38.5% of the gap among certificate degree graduates and 32.4% of the gap among graduates of selective bachelor’s programs (Figure 2).
Differences in labor supply — which reflect a combination of gender differences in employment rates as well as gender differences in the number of weeks and hours-per-week worked in a year of those employed — had a greater impact on the pay gap among graduates of certificate and associate programs than among those with bachelor’s degrees.
Labor supply accounted for 26.4% of the pay gap among certificate holders but only 11.3% among graduates of the most selective bachelor’s programs (Figure 2).
In Figures 2 and 4, the “unexplained” is the share of the gap that is not explained by differences in field of study, occupation and industry, or hours and weeks worked.
The children factor
Previous research has shown that having children contributed significantly to the gender pay gap.
And as Figure 3 shows, this study found the wage gap was considerably wider among men and women with than without children — more than double for top bachelor’s holders and quadruple for certificate graduates.
Figure 4 illustrates this jump was mostly fueled by labor supply among graduates of certificate programs and by occupation and labor supply choices among grads of highly selective bachelor’s programs.
Gender pay gap varied across the educational attainment distribution
Until recently, data limitations prevented researchers from investigating variations in the gender pay gap across different types of degrees and paths taken by graduates.
Thanks to our partnership with higher education systems, we can now get to the bottom of whether and how the gender pay gap relates to types of degrees earned.
The results paint a more complex portrait of the gender pay gap, found to exist at every level. College graduates and policymakers can use this more detailed information to better understand and dismantle contemporary barriers to gender equality.
Ariel Binder, Amanda Eng and Kendall Houghton are economists in the Center for Economic Studies Demographic Research Area. Andrew Foote is a principal economist in the Center for Economic Studies LEHD Research Area. All are U.S. Census Bureau staffers.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has dozens of pets waiting to be adopted.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Anatolian shepherd, Australian shepherd, border collie, boxer, German shepherd, Great Pyrenees, hound, husky, Labrador retriever, pit bull, Queensland heeler, shepherd and terrier.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
Those dogs and the others shown on this page at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
The shelter is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport.
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 this week will get a report on the status of a sewer improvement project meant to mitigate the impacts of a new Clearlake apartment complex development.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 19, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting ID is 898 7006 8634, pass code 694057. The meeting also can be accessed via one tap mobile at +16699006833,,83106989699#,,,,*694057#. The meeting can also be accessed via phone at 669 900 6833.
In an item timed for 9:10 a.m., the board will get a report on the current status of the Konocti Gardens project and the Special Districts sewer improvement project on Alvita Avenue in Clearlake to mitigate the development impacts.
The staff report said Konocti Gardens is a 102-unit multifamily apartment complex development off of Old Highway 53 near Highlands Way.
Construction on Special Districts’ improvement project is anticipated to occur this summer and to be completed by fall, staff reported.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Approve revised letter of support for California Coastal Conservancy LiDAR Derivatives Funding and authorize the chair to sign.
5.2: Approve Amendment No. 2 to the agreement between county of Lake and Redwood Community Services Inc. for the Lake County WRAP Program, Foster Care Program, and Intensive Services Foster Care (ISFC) Program for Specialty Mental Health Services with no change to the contract maximum for fiscal years 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.3: Approve Board of Supervisors minutes from March 5 and March 12, 2024.
5.4: Approve purchase of one vehicle from Downtown Ford through the state contract, in the amount of $57,374.76, and authorize the probation chief to issue purchase order.
5.5: Approve purchase of two vehicles from Downtown Ford – Sacramento in the amount of $57,347.76 each for the Central Garage fleet and authorize the Public Works director/assistant purchasing agent to issue the purchase orders.
5.6: Approve Change Order No. 2, for FEMA FMAG Culvert Replacement No. 3 Project, Federal Project No.’s FMAG DR 5189-FM-CA, Bid No. 21-04, for an increase of $17,524.28 and a revised contract amount of $264,261.58, and authorize the chair to sign.
5.7: Approve Judicial Advocate General Grant #15PBJA-21-GG-01104-JAGX decline letter and authorize chair to sign.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:03 a.m.: Pet of the Week.
6.3, 9:04 a.m.: Presentation considering annual delinquent sewer and water tax roll schedule and established staff direction from Board of Supervisors.
6.4, 9:10 a.m.: Consideration of report to the board on the current status of the Konocti Gardens project and the Special Districts sewer improvement project on Alvita Avenue in Clearlake to mitigate the development impacts.
6.5: Continued from Feb. 6, 9:45 a.m., public hearing, consideration of an ordinance amending the Purchasing Ordinance: Article X of Chapter Two of the Lake County Code to include increased purchasing limits, additional definitions, modify requirements for exemptions from competitive bidding and additional procedures for informal and formal bidding.
6.6, 10 a.m.: Consideration of a presentation from Nielsen Merksamer on the 2024 legislative session, state budget and potential bills of interest.
6.7, 10:15 a.m.: Public hearing, (a) consideration of resolution approving an application for funding and the execution of a grant agreement and any amendments thereto from the 2023-2024 Funding Year of the State CDBG Mitigation Resilience Infrastructure (MIT-RIP) Program; and (b) authorize the county administrative officer or designee to submit the grant application.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration of appointment to the East Region Town Hall.
7.3: Consideration of general fund loan request of $3,000,000 and loan of $1,000,000 from Department of Social Services Realignment Fund.
7.4: Consideration of resolution approving a short-term loan from the general fund by way of the Technology Reserve, Fund 154, to Behavioral Health Services, Fund 145, in the amount of $3,000,000.
7.5: Consideration of Amendment No. 2 to the agreement between the Lake County Behavioral Health Services as lead administrative entity for the Lake County Continuum of Care and Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital Inc. in the amount of $443,000 for fiscal years 2021-2024 and authorize the board chair to sign.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Public employee evaluation: Public Services director.
8.2: Addendum, conference with legal counsel: Existing Litigation pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9 (d)(1) – FERC Project No. 77, Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The U.S. Congress designated March as Irish American Heritage Month in 1991 and the president issues a proclamation commemorating the occasion each year.
Originally a religious holiday to honor St. Patrick who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into a celebration of all things Irish.
The world’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade occurred on March 17, 1762, in New York City, featuring Irish soldiers who served in the English military. This parade became an annual event, with President Truman attending in 1948.
The following facts are made possible by the invaluable responses to U.S. Census Bureau surveys.
Did You Know?
30.7 million or 9.2% The number and percentage of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2022.
112,251 The number of foreign-born U.S. residents who reported Ireland as their birthplace in 2022.
418,997 The number of people living in Cook County, Illinois — the nation’s county with the largest Irish American population — who claimed Irish ancestry in 2022.
11.1% The percentage of residents in Lake County, California, who claim Irish heritage. That makes Irish the third-largest ancestry claimed by county residents, following German (15.5%) and English (11.9%).
Is or was there life on Mars? That profound question is so complex that it will not be fully answered by the two NASA rovers now exploring it.
But because of the literal groundwork the rovers are performing, scientists are finally investigating, in-depth and in unprecedented detail, the planet’s evidence for life, known as its “biosignatures.” This search is remarkably complicated, and in the case of Mars, it is spanning decades.
As a geologist, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to work on both the Curiosity and Perseverance rover missions. Yet as much as scientists are learning from them, it will take another robotic mission to figure out if Mars has ever hosted life. That mission will bring Martian rocks back to Earth for analysis. Then – hopefully – we will have an answer.
From habitable to uninhabitable
While so much remains mysterious about Mars, there is one thing I am confident about. Amid the thousands of pictures both rovers are taking, I’m quite sure no alien bears or meerkats will show up in any of them. Most scientists doubt the surface of Mars, or its near-surface, could currently sustain even single-celled organisms, much less complex forms of life.
Instead, the rovers are acting as extraterrestrial detectives, hunting for clues that life may have existed eons ago. That includes evidence of long-gone liquid surface water, life-sustaining minerals and organic molecules. To find this evidence, Curiosity and Perseverance are treading very different paths on Mars, more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from each other.
These two rovers will help scientists answer some big questions: Did life ever exist on Mars? Could it exist today, perhaps deep under the surface? And would it be only microbial life, or is there any possibility it might be more complex?
The Mars of today is nothing like the Mars of several billion years ago. In its infancy, Mars was far more Earth-like, with a thicker atmosphere, rivers, lakes, maybe even oceans of water, and the essential elements needed for life. But this period was cut short when Mars lost its magnetic field and nearly all of its atmosphere – now only 1% as dense as the Earth’s.
The change from habitable to uninhabitable took time, perhaps hundreds of millions of years; if life ever existed on Mars, it likely died out a few billion years ago. Gradually, Mars became the cold and dry desert that it is today, with a landscape comparable to the dry valleys of Antarctica, without glaciers and plant or animal life. The average Martian temperature is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62 degrees Celsius), and its meager atmosphere is nearly all carbon dioxide.
Early exploration
Robotic exploration of the Martian surface began in the 1970s, when life-detection experiments on the Viking missions failed to find any conclusive evidence for life.
Sojourner, the first rover, landed in 1997 and demonstrated that a moving robot could perform experiments. In 2004, Spirit and Opportunity followed; both found evidence that liquid water once existed on the Martian surface.
The Curiosity rover landed in 2012 and began ascending Mount Sharp, the 18,000-foot-high mountain located inside Gale crater. There is a reason why NASA chose it as an exploration site: The mountain’s rock layers show a dramatic shift in climate, from one with abundant liquid water to the dry environment of today.
So far, Curiosity has found evidence in several locations of past liquid water, minerals that may provide chemical energy, and intriguingly, a variety of organic carbon molecules.
While organic carbon is not itself alive, it is a building block for all life as we know it. Does its presence mean that life once existed on Mars?
Not necessarily. Organic carbon can be abiotic – that is, unrelated to a living organism. For example, maybe the organic carbon came from a meteorite that crashed on Mars. And though the rovers carry wonderfully sophisticated instruments, they can’t definitively tell us if these organic molecules are related to past life on Mars.
But laboratories here on Earth likely can. By collecting rock and soil samples from the Martian surface, and then returning them to Earth for detailed analysis with our state-of-the-art instruments, scientists may finally have the answer to an age-old question.
Perseverance
Enter Perseverance, NASA’s newest flagship mission to Mars. For the past three years – it landed in February 2021 – Perseverance has been searching for signs of bygone microbial life in the rocks within Jezero crater, selected as the landing site because it once contained a large lake.
Perseverance is the first step of the Mars Sample Return mission, an international effort to collect Martian rock and soil for return to Earth.
The instrument suite onboard Perseverance will help the science team choose the rocks that seem to promise the most scientific return. This will be a careful process; after all, there would be only 30 seats on the ride back to Earth for these geological samples.
Budget woes
NASA’s original plan called for returning those samples to Earth by 2033. But work on the mission – now estimated to cost between US$8 billion to $11 billion – has slowed due to budget cuts and layoffs. The cuts are severe; a request for $949 million to fund the mission for fiscal 2024 was trimmed to $300 million, although efforts are underway to restore at least some of the funding.
The Mars Sample Return mission is critical to better understand the potential for life beyond Earth. The science and the technology that will enable it are both novel and expensive. But if NASA discovers life once existed on Mars – even if it’s by finding a microbe dead for a billion years – that will tell scientists that life is not a fluke one-time event that only happened on Earth, but a more common phenomenon that could occur on many planets.
That knowledge would revolutionize the way human beings see ourselves and our place in the universe. There is far more to this endeavor than just returning some rocks.