LAKEPORT, Calif. — The city of Lakeport said the nomination period for the upcoming November City Council election has been extended.
The nomination period for three council members, all four-year terms, and one two-year council term have been extended to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 4, due to non-filing by one of the incumbents.
Deputy City Clerk Hilary Britton told Lake County News that the extension is due to a technicality: Kim Costa was the incumbent for the two-year term, but she chose to run for a four-year term this time.
Likewise, Britton said Brandon Disney was the incumbent for the four-year term, but he chose to run for the two-year term this time.
The other seats up for election in November are those held by Mayor Michael Froio and Councilman Kenny Parlet.
Nomination papers must be issued by the City Clerk’s Office and are available by appointment beginning Monday, Aug. 12, and must be filed with the city clerk no later than 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 14.
Each candidate must be nominated by not less than 20 nor more than 30 registered voters; therefore, it is recommended that interested candidates pick up their nomination papers in advance of Wednesday’s 5 p.m. deadline to allow time to gather signatures and fill out the required paperwork.
If you are interested in running for Lakeport City Council, please contact City Clerk Kelly Buendia at 707-263‑5615, Extension 101, or Britton at Extension 102 for further information and to set up an appointment to go over the nomination packet.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — Clear Lake State Park is inviting community members to participate in an upcoming workshop to help shape the park's future.
The open house general plan community workshop will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, at the Clear Lake State Park Visitor Center, 5300 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville.
The park entrance fee will be waived after 4:30 p.m. for workshop attendees
In April, State Parks officials announced they were beginning the process to develop a comprehensive general plan for the future of Clear Lake State Park, which began with an online survey.
Officials said the plan is meant to “enrich the visitor experience, address critical resource management and infrastructure needs, and incorporate public input into decisions about the park’s future direction.”
The 590-acre park is considered a premier fishing destination. It is one of two state parks located entirely within Lake County. The other is Anderson Marsh State Historic Park in Lower Lake.
On Aug. 21, visitors can drop in any time during the workshop to learn about the general plan process, share ideas for park improvements and discuss their vision with State Parks staff.
Public input is important in guiding decisions about recreational development, natural and cultural resource protection and the park's overall future, officials said.
State Parks said the planning process for the Clear Lake State Park general plan is expected to be completed within a three-year timeframe.
“The plan aims to create a visionary framework for the park by defining objectives, goals, and guidelines to direct park staff and management in making strategic decisions about park operations, improvements, and the stewardship of its natural and cultural resources,” State Parks said in a statement about the process.
The Clear Lake State Park General Plan preparation process also will include an environmental impact report to evaluate potential environmental impacts associated with proposals within the general plan, State Parks said.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Clearlake woman arrested last month for what authorities said was a premeditated killing appeared in court this week to enter a plea in the case.
Dominique Irene Molina-Dominguez, 33, appeared in Lake County Superior Court on Tuesday morning for the July 10 killing of 38-year-old DeAndre Grinner.
She is charged with first-degree murder and special allegations of personal and intentional use of a firearm, and special aggravating circumstances that include a crime that involved great violence and involved a weapon.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Rich Watson said that during her Tuesday court appearance, Molina-Dominguez pleaded not guilty to all counts and denied all of the special allegations.
He said she also waived her right to a speedy preliminary hearing within 10 court days but did not waive her right to a preliminary hearing within 60 calendar days.
Molina-Dominguez’s preliminary hearing is set for Sep. 11, Watson said.
Authorities say Molina-Dominguez laid in wait for Grinner at a home they shared in Clearlake on July 10, fatally shooting him and then calling police.
She’d previously been scheduled to enter her plea on July 16, but the matter was continued at the defense request, as Lake County News has reported.
Watson said he expects to know more about a motive in the case, which remains under active investigation, by the time of the September preliminary hearing.
Until then, Molina-Dominguez remains in custody at the Lake County Jail on $1 million bail, according to jail records.
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 Lake County Registrar of Voters said Friday that the nomination period to file for candidacy for certain seats on several school, fire and special district boards in the Nov. 5 election has been extended until next week.
The extension for the specific seats is due to the incumbents not filing for reelection by the Friday deadline, the Elections Office reported.
Officials said the filing period for all qualified persons other than the incumbent officeholders is now 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14.
The filing period has been extended for the following seats.
• Mendocino-Lake Community College District: Trustee Area No. 7, one vacancy, four-year term.
• Lake County Board of Education: Trustee Area No. 1, one vacancy, four-year term; Trustee Area No. 2, one vacancy, four-year term.
• Kelseyville Unified School District: One vacancy, two-year unexpired term.
• Konocti Unified School District: Two vacancies, four-year terms.
• Lakeport Unified School District: Three vacancies, four-year terms.
• Lucerne Elementary School District: One vacancy, four-year term; one vacancy, two-year unexpired term.
• Middletown Unified School District: Two vacancies, four-year terms.
• Lake Pillsbury Fire Protection District: Two vacancies, four-year terms; one vacancy, two-year unexpired term.
• Northshore Fire Protection District, Upper Lake Zone: One vacancy, four-year term.
• Butler-Keys Community Services District: Three vacancies, four-year terms.
• Buckingham Park Water District: Two vacancies, four-year terms; one vacancy, two-year unexpired term.
• Callayomi County Water District: Two vacancies, four-year terms.
Anyone wanting information regarding filing for any of the elective offices that have been extended until Aug. 14 are advised to contact the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office at 707-263-2372, 325 N Forbes St., Lakeport during regular office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. prior to the extended filing deadline.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport Fire Protection District Board of Directors will hold a special meeting to approve an increase in the Measure M parcel tax.
The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 9, at Station 50, 445 N. Main St.
The only item on the agenda is the review, discussion and possible vote on adopting Resolution 24/25-02, which will adjust the Measure M parcel tax cost per benefit unit for fiscal year 2024-25.
Voters approved Measure M in May of 2019 in response to the district’s need for increased revenue to restore positions and support ongoing expenses.
Originally, Measure M levied a tax of $6.14 per benefit unit annually on each parcel of property in the district.
At its Aug. 6 meeting, the fire board voted unanimously via motion to increase the parcel tax rate to $6.93 per benefit unit for fiscal year 2024/25.
However, Ray Lavelle, the board’s clerk and a district admin and finance staffer, said that parcel tax rates must be increased via board resolution and not board motion.
As a result, the special meeting on Friday has been called in order for the board to vote on a resolution ratifying its decision made on Thursday night to adjust the parcel tax rate.
Lavelle said the entire meeting is expected to last five minutes.
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.
State Controller Malia M. Cohen has published the 2023 self-reported payroll data for state departments, superior courts, and California State University institutions on the Government Compensation in California website.
The data covers more than 399,000 positions and approximately $28.87 billion in total wages.
The newly published data were reported by:
• 24 CSU institutions (116,235 employees);
• 56 superior courts (20,884 employees); and
• 157 state departments (262,097 employees).
The data showed that the Lake County Superior Court has 45 employees, with a total of $3,364,732 in wages and $602,804 in health and retirement contributions.
The top five jobs include the four judges’ positions, ranging in pay annually from $219,046 to $233,901, and in retirement and health contributions from $1,073 to $23,376, and the court executive officer, which makes $214,882 in annual pay and $39,610 in retirement and health contributions.
Among state department jobs, the highest paid position is the chief investment officer of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, who receives $1,739,709 annually, followed in the top five by the following:
• Chief investment officer, Public Employees' Retirement System: $1,604,690. • Deputy chief investment officer, California State Teachers' Retirement System: $1,143,143. • Deputy chief investment officer, California State Teachers' Retirement System: $1,031,286. • Chief executive officer, State Teachers' Retirement: $984,623.
Users of the site can view compensation levels on maps and search by region, narrow results by name of the entity or by job title, and export raw data or custom reports.
California law requires cities, counties, and special districts to annually report compensation data to the State Controller’s Office.
The State Controller’s Office also maintains and publishes state and CSU salary data. However, no such statutory requirement exists for the University of California, California community colleges, superior courts, fairs and expositions, First 5 commissions, or K-12 education providers; their reporting is voluntary.
Two superior courts — Alameda and Tuolumne — either did not file or filed a report that was noncompliant.
The site contains pay and benefit information on more than two million government jobs in California, as reported annually by each entity.
As the chief fiscal officer of California, Controller Cohen is responsible for accountability and disbursement of the state’s financial resources. The controller has independent auditing authority over government agencies that spend state funds.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has more new dogs waiting to be adopted this week.
The Clearlake Animal Control website lists 42 adoptable dogs.
The available dogs include “Rocky,” an extra large male German shepherd.
There also is “Zola,” a large female German shepherd.
The shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, call the shelter at 707-762-6227, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
This week’s adoptable dogs are featured below.
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.
SAN DIEGO — Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom celebrated the public debut of two giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo on Thursday as Panda Ridge officially opened to visitors.
Prior to the opening ceremony, the governor met privately with Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng to discuss the significance of the milestone for U.S.-China relations.
In October, Gov. Newsom led a weeklong visit to China, where he met with President Xi and other high-level officials to advance climate action, promote economic development and tourism, and strengthen cultural ties.
“Welcoming these national treasures to the San Diego Zoo is a proud moment for California that reflects our strong foundation of partnership with China on a host of issues, from climate action to economic development,” said Newsom. “Working together with our international partners to protect this iconic wildlife species, we can achieve remarkable outcomes for conservation and cultural exchange – benefiting our communities and the planet.”
The governor and first partner visited the zoo’s reimagined Panda Ridge habitat, home to 5-year-old male Yun Chuan and 4-year-old female Xin Bao who arrived in late June.
Yun Chuan is the son of Zhen Zhen, a female panda born at the San Diego Zoo in 2007, and the grandchild of Bai Yun and Gao Gao, who lived at the San Diego Zoo in the early 2000s.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the conservation partnership between San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and China Wildlife Conservation Association.
The collaboration has greatly advanced giant panda conservation, leading to the downgrading of the giant panda's status from endangered to vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2016.
This cooperation helps further the broader collaboration between California and Chinese partners on protecting biodiversity and advancing 30x30 efforts worldwide.
“We are delighted to introduce Yun Chuan and Xin Bao to the world," said Paul Baribault, president and CEO of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. “Guests will have an opportunity to visit with these remarkable giant pandas, be inspired by their importance, learn about all we do to help conserve them alongside our trusted Chinese partners, and join us to help protect their future.”
The state hopes that this conservation collaboration will lead to further exchanges and cooperation between California and China, which have a strong foundation of partnership built by governors Schwarzenegger and Brown and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, as well as Gov. Newsom while serving as mayor of San Francisco.
The celebration on Thursday included the unveiling of an original portrait by California-based artist Shepard Fairey depicting Bai Yun, Yun Chuan’s maternal grandmother who lived at the San Diego Zoo for more than 20 years.
Learn more about the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s innovative conservation efforts and opportunities to visit Panda Ridge here.
Continuing to lead the country in emergency management and disaster preparedness, California’s first-in-the-nation Earthquake Early Warning System has provided advance notification to millions of Californians.
This alert came ahead of the 5.2 magnitude earthquake's shaking that was felt late Tuesday night throughout Central and Southern California.
The epicenter of Tuesday’s earthquake was in the community of Lamont, and was felt across large portions of Central and Southern California.
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, or Cal OES, which oversees California’s earthquake warning system, continues to coordinate closely with local officials in the impacted region to evaluate any issues or unmet needs.
Phones in the affected areas received notifications thanks to the state’s MyShake app, which sent 517,354 alerts, and even more Californians received alerts thanks to the public-private partnership between the state and Google, which has integrated the alert software into their Android cell phone operating systems.
“Our investments in cutting edge, innovative technologies are paying off. Efforts like these have allowed us to gain vital seconds between when alerts arrive on Californians’ mobile phones and when the ground starts shaking. Californians, I encourage you to download the app, it can save lives,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Following Tuesday’s earthquake, there were more than 46,692 new downloads of the MyShake App in just 12 hours.
In addition to the emergency alerts sent to individuals through MyShake and smartphones, California is also using the technology to automate protective actions such as opening firehouse doors, recalling elevators, shutting off water and gas valves as well as closing bridges gates and notifying personnel in school and medical settings. Because of this capability, Metrolink’s train system automatically generated a notice that an earthquake had occurred.
Download app to get earthquake warnings
“The system performed Tuesday — giving Californians many seconds of advance warning,” said Cal OES Director Nancy Ward. “This demonstrates that Californians are now more protected in the moments before the devastation of major earthquake hits.”
In 2019, on the 30th anniversary of the deadly Loma Prieta earthquake, Gov. Newsom announced the launch of the nation’s first statewide Earthquake Early Warning System.
Building on this success of the2019 launch, in 2020 Gov. Newsom announced a partnership with Google to incorporate California’s earthquake early warning technology into all Android smartphones.
Warnings delivered through the California Earthquake Early Warning System are powered by ShakeAlert, a computerized program operated by the United States Geological Survey, or USGS, in partnership with Cal OES that analyzes data from seismic networks in California, calculates preliminary magnitudes, and then estimates which areas will feel shaking.
Seismic networks partners include the California Geological Survey, University of California, Berkeley Seismological Laboratory and California Institute of Technology Seismological Laboratory.
The California Earthquake Early Warning System marries a smartphone application with traditional alert and warning delivery methods such as Wireless Emergency Alerts, or WEA.
With the recent integration of early warning technology within the most popular smartphones in California, the system can deliver alerts to most Californians. The system uses ground motion sensors from across the state to detect earthquakes before humans can feel them.
Under the state’s leadership, 50% more sensors have been installed since the program launched making the system more accurate and able to deliver alerts faster.
How to receive alerts
To receive earthquake warnings, there are three ways for individuals and families to get alerts through the Earthquake Warning California system.
MyShake App: Free smartphone app that provides iPhone users with audio and visual warnings, available in both English and Spanish.
Smartphones: The majority of smartphones with updated operating systems are automatically subscribed to earthquake early warning which uses the same technology as the MyShake App; and
Wireless Emergency Alerts, or WEAs: No-cost text messages for emergency situations sent through the nation-wide system providing lifesaving information for the State of California To learn more about earthquake preparedness and download the earthquake early warning application, visit: www.earthquake.ca.gov.
Sachiko Amari, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
In space, there are clouds that contain gas and dust ejected from stars. Our solar system was formed 4.6 billion years ago from such a molecular cloud. Most of these dust grains were destroyed during solar system formation. However, a very small amount of the grains survived and remained intact in primitive meteorites. They are called presolar grains because they predate the solar system. I am a scientist who studies the early solar system and beyond, focusing mainly on presolar grains.
The picture is an image of such a grain taken by a scanning electron microscope. This grain is silicon carbide (SiC). The scale bar is 1 micron, or one millionth of a meter (39.37 inches). The grain was extracted from the Murchison meteorite that fell in Australia in 1969.
Scientists have investigated physical properties of the grain to determine its origin. Carbon has two stable isotopes, ¹²C and ¹³C, whose weights are slightly different from one another. The ratio between these isotopes is almost unchanged by processes taking place in the solar system such as evaporation and condensation. In contrast, nucleosynthetic processes in stars cause ¹²C/¹³C ratios to vary from 1 to over 200,000.
If this grain had originated within the solar system, its ¹²C/¹³C ratio would be 89. The ¹²C/¹³C ratio of the grain in this picture is about 55.1, which attests to its stellar origin. Together with other information about the grain, the ratio tells us that this grain formed in a type of star called an asymptotic giant branch star. The star was at the end of its life cycle when it profusely produced and expelled dust into space more than 4.6 billion years ago.
Scientists have found other types of presolar grains in meteorites, including diamond, graphite, oxides and silicates. Presolar grains like the one in the picture help researchers understand nucleosynthesis in stars, mixing of different zones in stars and stellar ejecta, and how abundances of elements and their isotopes change with time in the galaxy.
Racism steals time from people’s lives – possibly because of the space it occupies in the mind. In a new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open, our team showed that the toll of racism on the brain was linked to advanced aging, observed on a cellular level.
Black women who were more frequently exposed to racism showed stronger connections in brain networks involved with rumination and vigilance. We found that this, in turn, was connected to accelerated biological aging.
Racial discrimination is a ubiquitous stressor that often goes unnoticed. It might look like a doctor questioning a Black patient’s pain level and not prescribing pain medication, or a teacher calling a Black child a “thug.” It is a constant stressor faced by Black people starting at an early age.
Rumination – reliving and analyzing an event on a loop – and vigilance, meaning being watchful for future threats, are possible coping responses to these stressors. But rumination and vigilance take energy, and this increased energy expenditure has a biological cost.
In our study of Black women, we found that more frequent racial discrimination was linked to more connectivity between two key regions. One, called the locus coeruleus, is a deep brain region that activates the stress response, promoting arousal and vigilance. The other is the precuneus, a key node of a brain network that engages when we think about our experiences and internalize – or suppress – our emotions.
These brain changes, in turn, were linked to accelerated cellular aging measured by an epigenetic “clock.” Epigenetics refers to changes that happen to our DNA from the environment. Epigenetic clocks assess how the environment affects our aging at a molecular level.
Higher clock values indicate that someone’s biological age is greater than their chronological age. In other words, the space that racist experiences occupy in people’s minds has a cost, which can shorten the lifespan.
What still isn’t known
Although we saw links between racism, brain connectivity changes and accelerated aging, we did not measure coping responses like rumination and vigilance in real time, meaning as people were experiencing them.
Our next steps are to use real-time measurement of everyday racism along with physiological measurements and neuroimaging to take a deeper dive into these research questions.
We want to know how different types of racial discrimination and coping styles influence brain and body responses. Understanding these issues better can bring more attention to prevention, such as programs that target implicit bias in physicians and teachers. It can also inform interventions like neuromodulation, which involves the use of external or internal devices to stimulate or inhibit brain activity. Neuromodulation can be used as a therapy aid to reduce stress.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
With the public debut of two giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo on Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proclaimed August 8, 2024, as California Panda Day.
Yun Chuan and Xin Bao arrived at the San Diego Zoo earlier this summer and are the first giant pandas to enter the U.S. in 21 years.
The San Diego Zoo will celebrate the opening of Panda Ridge to visitors on Thursday.
The text of the proclamation and a copy can be found below:
PROCLAMATION
The bear has long held pride of place in California as a symbol of our state’s spirit and strength, from our state flag and seal to its enduring significance for Native American tribes across the state. This week, California is proud to celebrate another iconic bear as a pair of giant pandas make their public debut at the San Diego Zoo.
Yun Chuan and Xin Bao are the first giant pandas to enter the U.S. in more than two decades. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance was the first organization in the country to establish a cooperative panda conservation program, and their innovative conservation science has advanced efforts to protect and care for giant pandas around the world. A testament to their success, five-year-old Yun Chuan is the son of Zhen Zhen, a female panda born at the San Diego Zoo in 2007.
This conservation collaboration is part of California and China’s long history of working together towards shared goals. Building on our strong foundation of partnership and deep cultural and economic ties, I traveled to China last year to advance priority issues including climate action and economic development. We hope that the newly arrived panda “envoys of friendship” will lead to further exchanges and cooperation between California and China.
Giant pandas are beloved around the world and their conservation story is an inspiring example of strong partnerships and innovative strategies to protect the world’s natural heritage. As the San Diego Zoo welcomes visitors to Panda Ridge this week, I encourage Californians to take this unique opportunity to appreciate one of the most iconic wildlife species and recognize the important partnerships at work to help them thrive for generations to come.
NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim August 8, 2024, as “California Panda Day.”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 7th day of August 2024.
GAVIN NEWSOM Governor of California
ATTEST: SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D. Secretary of State