LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The company that provides the community evacuation interface for zone mapping of Lake County is changing its name over the objections of law enforcement agencies.
Zonehaven AWARE is changing its name to Genasys Protect, effective June 27.
For the last several years, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office has used Zonehaven to map evacuation zones across Lake County, which typically are used during fire emergencies.
The name change has raised concerns about confusion for the public.
Lauren Berlinn, the sheriff’s office’s community outreach officer, told Lake County News that the agency — and multiple other law enforcement and fire agencies — fought the name change “at every turn.”
“However,” she added, “the corporate decision makers went ahead with the rebrand.”
Berlinn said she has woven the name change into her fire season social media campaign, which kicked off this week.
In a letter to the sheriff’s office that Berlinn shared with Lake County News, Richard S. Danforth, chief executive officer of Genasys Inc., said, regarding what has changed with the name conversation, “We’re now able to better assist you and your organization in using data to optimize how you protect and inform your community — before, during, and after a critical event. We’re also able to help you better tell the Genasys story to your stakeholders, including the media, as you increase awareness and build support for your initiatives.”
Regarding what hasn’t changed, Danforth said the company will still provide the same level of support and transparency, and reliable products.
For more about the service and what your zone is during an emergency, visit the Lake County Sheriff’s Office website here.
The nation’s median age increased by 0.2 years to 38.9 years between 2021 and 2022, according to Vintage 2022 Population Estimates released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Median age is the age at which half of the population is older and half of the population is younger.
“As the nation’s median age creeps closer to 40, you can really see how the aging of baby boomers, and now their children — sometimes called echo boomers — is impacting the median age. The eldest of the echo boomers have started to reach or exceed the nation’s median age of 38.9,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. "While natural change nationally has been positive, as there have been more births than deaths, birth rates have gradually declined over the past two decades. Without a rapidly growing young population, the U.S. median age will likely continue its slow but steady rise.”
Lake County was one of five counties in California to show a decrease of 0.5% or more in median age.
The latest data showed that Lake County’s median age range from 39 to 42.9 years.
A third (17) of the states in the country had a median age above 40.0 in 2022, led by Maine with the highest at 44.8, and New Hampshire at 43.3. Utah (31.9), the District of Columbia (34.8), and Texas (35.5) had the lowest median ages in the nation. Hawaii had the largest increase in median age among states, up 0.4 years to 40.7.
No states experienced a decrease in median age. Four states — Alabama (39.4), Maine (44.8), Tennessee (39.1), West Virginia (42.8), and the District of Columbia (34.8) — had no change in their median age from 2021 to 2022.
The median age of the nation’s 3,144 counties or equivalents ranged from 20.9 to 68.1 in 2022. About 75% (2,357) had a median age at or above that of the nation, down from 76% and 2,374 counties in 2021.
Roughly a quarter (787) had a median age below the national median age in 2022, 17 more than in 2021 when 770 counties had median ages under the then 38.7 national median age. Fifty-nine percent (1,846) of U.S. counties experienced an increase in median age between 2021 and 2022, up from 51% or 1,590 counties between 2020 and 2021.
Race and ethnicity facts
The new Census data release included pdated estimates by race and Hispanic origin.
Statistics of particular note include the following.
The White population in the United States was 260,570,291 in 2022, representing an increase of 0.1% or 388,779 people from 2021.
In 2022, California had the largest White population (29,079,926), followed by Texas (23,853,626) and Florida (17,553,268). Florida also had the largest-gaining (321,037) and second fastest-growing (1.9%) White population behind South Carolina, which grew by 2.0% (74,990).
Comprising 15% of the nation’s total population in 2022, the national Black population totaled 50,087,750, up 0.9% from July 2021.
Texas had the largest Black population in 2022, with a total of 4,334,313, an increase of 120,945 (2.9%) from July 2021. Maine had the fastest-growing Black population, expanding by 7.0% (2,412 people) between 2021 and 2022.
The Asian population in the United States was 24,683,008 in 2022, up 577,420 or 2.4% from 2021.
In 2022, California had the largest Asian population (7,242,739), followed by New York (2,085,285) and Texas (1,958,128). California also had the largest-gaining Asian population with an increase of 108,881, while Montana — with an increase of 6.8% (1,276) — had the fastest-growing Asian population.
California was home to four of the top five counties with the largest Asian populations in 2022. Los Angeles County topped the list with an Asian population of 1,711,002, followed by Santa Clara County (830,790) and Orange County (816,274). Alameda County, California, had the fifth largest Asian population at just over 616,000, and Queens County, New York, ranked fourth with an Asian population of 671,358.
The American Indian and Alaska Native population reached 7,274,656 between July 2021 and July 2022, an increase of 93,443 or 1.3%. California had the largest American Indian and Alaska Native population at 1,114,580, followed by Oklahoma (572,435) and Texas (528,255). Texas also had the largest-gaining American Indian and Alaska Native population, having increased by 15,245 from 2021 to 2022, while the District of Columbia had the nation’s fastest-growing American Indian and Alaska Native population, increasing by 5.0% or 507 residents.
The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population rose to 1,759,756, an increase of 1.8% or 31,949 people in 2022.
Hawaii had the largest Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population (393,837), followed by California (373,173) and Washington (109,115).
The Hispanic population gained over a million residents, reaching 63,664,346 in 2022, an increase of 1.7%.
Among states, California (15,732,180), Texas (12,068,549), and Florida (6,025,030) had the largest Hispanic population, while New York (3,867,076) was the only state to experience a drop (-0.7%, -27,522) in the Hispanic population.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — More than 400 people of all ages showed up to participate in a walking school bus event on May 31 hosted by Konocti Unified School District in partnership with the city of Clearlake and Blue Zones Project — Lake County.
Students and their families, KUSD teachers and staff, community members and elected leaders walked from Austin Park to Pomo Elementary School to highlight the need for walkable neighborhoods and to encourage federal funding for the effort.
“Sometimes we get so used to our surroundings, we forget we can change them,” KUSD Superintendent Becky Salato said. “We know health is important, and many of us grew up walking to school, but when parents look around and see how dangerous it would be for their kids to walk, they put them on a bus or drive them to school–even when they only live a few blocks away.”
To make the walking school bus event safe, the city of Clearlake closed one lane of Lakeshore Drive and provided traffic control, so no one had to dodge cars while they walked. Blue Zones Project — Lake County provided water and T-shirts.
Many community members provided moral support by walking alongside the kids, including Clearlake City Manager Alan Flora, Lake County Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, Clearlake City Council Member Dirk Slooten, Clearlake Chief of Police Tim Hobbs, Lake County Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Marc Hill, Adventist Health Director of Wellbeing Don Smith and Blue Zones Project — Lake County Director Jamey Gill.
Parents joined in to support their children, often pushing younger siblings in strollers. The festive mood created by kids talking and laughing together brought people outside to see what all the commotion was about.
Gill said, “Neighbors came out of their homes to see the parade. One woman shouted, ‘This day will go down in history.’ Another man brought his little kids outside to watch and wave.”
Blue Zones Project — Lake County Public Policy Advocate Greg Damron explained that by creating a “built environment” that encourages walking, especially safe routes to school, it is easier for people to develop healthy habits. With the current lack of sidewalks and proximity to busy traffic, most parents are not comfortable sending their children to school on foot.
Before the walking school bus crowd left Austin Park, Superintendent Salato asked students to raise their hands if they had ever walked to school. Fewer than 20 kids raised their hands.
She challenged them to use all their senses as they walked, to pay attention to what they saw, heard, smelled, and felt. When they arrived, she asked if their minds and bodies felt ready to learn.
“Do you feel more energized?!” she asked. “Yes!” they responded. She then asked who wanted to walk to school from now on, and all hands went up. This is when first graders started chanting, “We want sidewalks. We want sidewalks!”
Salato knows that creating a safe, walkable community cannot happen overnight, but that “it can and should happen.” She says she will continue to collaborate with local officials and Blue Zones Project partners to advocate for state and federal funding for sidewalks and other local health initiatives.
Blue Zones Projects across the nation support the Safe Routes to School movement that works to make it safer and easier for students to walk and bike to school. Research confirms that students benefit from improved health and learning when they get physical exercise on the way to school. In Clearlake, however, those benefits must be measured against the risks of navigating unsafe routes.
The walking school bus event is only one example of the partnership between Konocti Unified and Blue Zones — Lake County.
KUSD is working toward becoming the first school district to be a Blue Zones Project Certified workplace and each school is working toward becoming a Blue Zones Approved school.
Damron shared his enthusiasm about the partnership, saying, “I have worked in community development for close to 30 years, and spent the last five years supporting public health in schools. In all that time, Becky Salato is the most progressive and innovative superintendent I have ever worked with. She is focused on moving the needle at all levels, from statewide advocacy to engaging students in the classroom. As a member of the Blue Zones Project team, I can tell you we are pretty well-funded and well-connected, and at times, we find ourselves trying to keep up with Becky.”
Next year, KUSD will continue to embrace the core tenants of the Blue Zones Project, including providing more opportunities for students and staff to exercise and increasing access to healthy food (some of which will be grown at school gardens).
Salato is also dedicated to tackling one of Lake County’s most intransigent problems: dependence on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
Lake County has among the highest adult smoking rates in California, and vaping (using electronic devices to inhale nicotine and other substances) has reached epidemic proportions among students, with some starting as early as first grade.
Salato says she is encouraged by the turnout at the walking school bus event and that she will continue to work with community members to support children’s physical and emotional well-being, even when faced with the occasional naysayer.
One parent admitted that he was not sure how the walking school bus event would go.
“So close to the end of school when kids are tired and antsy, I wasn’t sure if there would be eye-rolling or if kids would get into it. Turns out, it was spectacular. Hundreds of kids were eager to participate and super energetic. I was stunned. What a tribute to the school district and city of Clearlake. This was epic,” he said.
Richard Handler, University of Virginia and Laura Goldblatt, University of Virginia
With the ascension of King Charles III to the British throne, some commentators have made much of the fact that the new stamp bearing his image features the king without a crown.
This is a major break with a tradition that began in 1840 with the world’s first postage stamp, the Penny Black, which featured the reigning monarch, Queen Victoria, wearing her crown.
Less discussed is the fact that the living monarch’s image must appear on all British stamps because the monarch embodies the nation itself. This is true even for commemorative stamps that honor historically important persons and events. Whether sharing equal billing with another person or relegated to a corner, the living monarch’s image will always be found on British stamps.
As we discuss in our recent book, “The American Stamp,” when the United States was ready to release its first stamps in 1847, the Post Office returned to the issues that had first been raised in a debate about coins. In 1792, when the U.S. mint was founded, a proposal to feature the heads of living presidents on the nation’s coinage was defeated in Congress by those who argued that to do so would be monarchical. In a republic, they proclaimed, only history, not heredity, could determine who was worthy of lending their likeness to the nation’s money.
It was agreed that only dead or allegorical persons – for example, the Goddess of Liberty – can be depicted on U.S. currencies. The postal service adopted similarly democratic ideals.
The questions of the day became “Who deserves to be honored on American stamps?” or “What does democracy look like?” The Post Office answered, “like dead heroes” – or, more specifically, like images of deceased white males whom history deemed central to the nation’s founding and growth. The country’s first stamp designs featured Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, who had died in the previous century.
Over the 176 years since that decision was made, American stamps have come to include more and more kinds of people. Indeed, stamps provide a visual history of American thinking about gender and race in a widely disseminated and easily recognizable tiny form.
A tradition codified
That tradition continued for both currency and stamps until 1866, when it became
Why did depicting only the dead on U.S. currencies became a national priority in the year after the end of the Civil War? The answer emerged from : Had living persons been allowed to appear on U.S. coins, stamps and banknotes, it would have been possible to depict U.S. citizens who would go on to become traitors to the nation.
This law has held fast, even as stamps have quickly evolved.
In all these cases, history, not heredity, determined who appeared. The only figures guaranteed a stamp are presidents, who become eligible for this honor one year after their death. The idea remains, though, that unlike King Charles III, they did not ascend to the office of president, but earned it due to their contribution to the democratic ideals of the United States.
The politics of representation
Despite these clear ideals, the question of representation has dogged postal portraits. So it is no surprise that when the Post Office established the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee in 1957 to make recommendations to the postmaster general about future designs for stamps, it decreed that its deliberations be kept secret.
Nonetheless, the current diversity of the cast of characters appearing on U.S. stamps continues to generate criticism. People with pronounced political views of whatever stripe can be unhappy with choices that seem to represent their opponents.
A different critique we develop in our book is that apolitical diversity allows the Postal Service to abdicate the responsibility of illustrating what democracy should look like. If you do not pick a side, we argue, then how can citizens know which behaviors or positions are undemocratic?
Indeed, the pitfalls of the good-people-on-both-sides approach was strikingly illustrated in a 1995 pane of 20 stamps commemorating the Civil War, which included both Abraham Lincoln, the president of the Union, and Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. Surely the legislators who in 1866 decried the possibility of traitors being featured on federal currencies would be baffled by the choice of Davis.
Which raises a problem: If former President Donald Trump is convicted of violating national security laws and obstructing justice, which principle should prevail: that all presidents be guaranteed a postage stamp? Or that only those persons whom history judges to have been faithful to the nation and its democratic principles can appear on U.S. stamps, coins and bank notes?
It’s too soon to know the answer to these questions. But the controversy over who should represent the United States on stamps and what democracy looks like has been with our nation since 1792.
On Thursday, Reps. Mike Thompson (CA-04) and Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Sens. Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation for winegrape crop loss coverage.
The bill requires the Federal Crop Insurance Corp., or FCIC, to carry out research and implement a crop insurance product that covers losses due to smoke exposure.
“Winegrapes are essential to economies across our country, and states like California, Oregon, and Washington have been disproportionately exposed to wildfires leading to smoke exposure impacting our winegrapes,” said Thompson. “Researching the impact that smoke has on our winegrapes and other crops is essential in advancing solutions that will protect these key economic drivers from future natural disasters. Proud to work with Rep. Newhouse and Sen. Padilla to introduce legislation that strengthens crop insurance for winegrowers and helps fully capture the risks associated with growing in these smoke- and wildfire-prone states.”
“Washington state’s wine industry produces some of the best wine in the nation and we need to keep it that way. Right now, the industry faces billions of dollars in losses from wildfires and smoke exposure. I am proud to co-sponsor this critical legislation that will ensure our wine grape growers and producers get the necessary funding to be resilient and continue to produce high-quality wine,” said Newhouse.
“As climate change intensifies and wildfires become more frequent and extreme, we need to protect winegrape growers and consumers against the damage caused by prolonged smoke exposure. Winegrape growing regions are critical to our economy, especially in California. Growers, vintners, and consumers alike have a stake in the sustainability of winegrowing communities — these bills will help growers make informed decisions about harvesting and selling their crops,” said Padilla.
“Washington state is the second-largest wine producing state in the country, creating thousands of jobs and fueling tourism across the state,” said Senator Murray. “Washington is also seeing an alarming increase in wildfires year after year, which creates a serious smoke exposure problem for winegrape growers across the West Coast. Vineyards in Washington state and all the way down to California need a crop insurance policy for smoke-exposed winegrapes, rather than being forced to rely on ad-hoc disaster assistance from year to year — and that’s what this legislation will provide. I’m proud that research at Washington State University has played a leading role in studying the impacts of smoke exposure, and this bill takes a critical and needed step to protect our state’s vital wine industry.”
"The profound losses experienced by growers due to impacts of wildfire smoke underscore the pressing need for research and have highlighted the necessity for improvements to crop insurance to safeguard growers,” said Natalie Collins, President of the California Association of Winegrape Growers. “We commend Congressman Thompson for recognizing the long-lasting ramifications of wildfires on the winegrape industry, and for prioritizing solutions to ensure a more sustainable future for an industry that serves as a vital economic force," she said.
“The wildfires in 2020 were especially detrimental to our winegrape crop given the timing in the harvest season. Our farmers invest all year in growing the crop and when it cannot be harvested, It can be financially devastating. Crop insurance and support is crucial for the long term preservation of agriculture in these uncertain times,” said Karissa Kruse, President of Sonoma County Winegrowers.
Winegrapes exposed to smoke from wildfires can introduce compounds into the winemaking process that cause smoky, ash-like flavors and result in wines unfit for commercial sale. These off-aromas and flavors become more pronounced over time as wine ages. In 2020 alone, industry sources estimate between 165,000 and 325,000 tons of California winegrapes were lost due to actual or perceived smoke damage, and financial estimate place losses at over $600 million.
The legislation introduced by Reps. Thompson and Newhouse and Senators Padilla and Murray requires research and development of a crop insurance product that provides comprehensive coverage for smoke-impacted winegrape growers, and helps to mitigate future financial losses in these key regions of production.
Thompson represents California’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — An Upper Lake man is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison for a brutal domestic violence case.
On June 14, Arturo Pedro Gutierrez, 62 , was sentenced for an extremely violent assault on his 53-year-old girlfriend, Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said.
On Aug. 19, 2022, Lake County Sheriff’s officers, as a result of a 911 call, responded to a residence at 6:30 a.m. between Lakeport and Upper Lake, and contacted the victim at the 911 caller’s residence, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said the victim was covered in bruises and had been severely beaten. Officers had the victim transported to the hospital.
Upon further investigation officers learned that the victim and Gutierrez had been in a relationship for one year, Hinchcliff said.
The previous night the victim had gone to Gutierrez’s residence on Bridge Arbor Road, according to Hinchcliff’s report. The victim said Gutierrez began drinking alcohol the night before and became angry. He grabbed her by the hair, and the victim began asking Gutierrez not to hurt her.
Gutierrez continued to grab her by the hair, began spitting on her, and physically restrained her. Gutierrez then hit her in the face and began hitting her all over her body, according to the investigation.
Hinchcliff said Gutierrez continued to grab her by her hair, continued beating her, and threatened to kill her and her daughter. Gutierrez then covered her mouth with his hand causing her to become dizzy and fear for her life. He also choked her several times.
At one point the victim escaped outside where Gutierrez followed her and tackled her to the ground. Hinchcliff said she was finally able to escape, but ended up outside in the dark in a field, suffering from blurry vision because of the assault. The victim eventually laid down in the field in the cold, wearing only underwear, and fell asleep until it got light the next morning.
A nearby neighbor said that morning he was awakened by the sound of the victim yelling for help outside his residence. The neighbor said the victim was obviously injured and scared and he took her inside and called 911.
The victim was covered with severe bruising all over her body and had a fracture underneath her right eye socket from the assault, Hinchcliff said.
The District Attorney’s Office charged Gutierrez with numerous felonies, including spousal abuse, assault, terrorist threats, false imprisonment and causing great bodily injury. Gutierrez was also charged with having two prior “strike” convictions — one in 1994 for attempted murder, and one in 2012 for kidnapping.
Gutierrez had spent numerous years in prison, approximately 20, because of his prior criminal history.
Senior Deputy District Attorney James Gandy was the assigned prosecutor for the case for the District Attorney’s Office, and Thomas Feimer was the public defender appointed to represent Gutierrez. David J. Markham was the presiding judge.
After an unsuccessful attempt to settle the case, it went to trial on April 19. On April 26, the jury returned with verdicts of guilty on all charges, and found the special allegation of committing great bodily injury to be true. The “strike” allegations were also found to be true by the judge, Hinchcliff said.
Prior to sentencing Gutierrez made a Marsden motion to have his attorney relieved and a new attorney appointed. That motion was denied by Judge Markham.
The sentencing took place on June 14. The victim was present, and the victim’s sister read a statement to the court from the victim.
Judge Markham, noting the seriousness of Gutierrez’s conduct, the violence involved, as well as the significant physical and emotional injuries inflicted on the victim, sentenced Gutierrez to 40 years to life.
“Hopefully the significant penalty imposed in this case will have some kind of deterrent effect on potential future spousal abusers. And, hopefully, it will convince and encourage future domestic violence victims to report domestic violence, and to cooperate with law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, in order to hold the abusers accountable for their conduct,” Hinchcliff said.
An ongoing trust funded with the assets of a deceased settlor benefits both current and remainder (future) beneficiaries, but at different times and in different ways.
Such a trust restricts what the current (e.g., lifetime) beneficiary receives to ensure that some trust assets remain for the remainder beneficiaries. This is where the dual concepts of “income” and “principal” are relevant.
Consider a trust funded by the assets of a deceased spouse that gives the surviving spouse all the net income for her life and provides for use of the principal, if necessary and at the trustee’s discretion, for the surviving settlor’s, “Health, Education, Maintenance and Support” (aka, “HEMS”).
At the surviving spouse’s death what remains goes to the deceased settlor’s own children. What does that mean and how is it administered?
First, it means that the trustee must categorize the trust’s receipts and expenses between the dual concepts of “income” and “principal” to know what the surviving spouse mandatorily receives as income.
What is “income” and “principal” is established under the trust’s own terms (definitions) and, otherwise by the California’s statutory rules in the Uniform Principal and Income Act (UPIA) in Probate Code sections 16320 - 13375.
What receipts (additions to the trust) are income and principal vary by the type of asset from which a receipt is received by the trustee.
For example, under the UPIA distributions from a retirement plan (e.g., an Individual Retirement Plan or a 401(k)) are allocated ten percent (10%) to income and ninety percent (90%) to principal. This treatment of retirement receipts is often a shock to someone who expected all of the retirement plan receipts to be income.
Receipts of interest and dividends are allocated entirely to income. Receipts of capital gain (proceeds from the sale of appreciated assets) are generally allocated entirely to principal as the profit is an increase in asset value.
Again the foregoing UPIA statutory rules only apply to the extent that the trust itself is silent. The trust may have different rules which apply. Moreover, the trustee must also allocate disbursements (expenses) between income and principal; first as provided under the terms of the trust and otherwise under UPIA. Allocation of disbursements vary by the type.
For example, under UPIA trustee fees and other expenses of trust administration are allocated fifty percent to income and fifty percent to principal.
Naturally tension may develop between the current beneficiary and the remainder beneficiary over whether the trustee invests assets primarily to generate interest and dividends, which are income, or to grow in value, which is principal.
Unless the trust gives the trustee discretion to favor one beneficiary over another, a trustee must administer a trust impartially. That means the trustee when investing assets and when allocating receipts and expenses between income and principal must follow the rules in the trust and the code.
Nonetheless, the UPIA allows the trustee, in certain limited situations, to make adjustments between principal and income if certain conditions are satisfied (section 16336 Probate Code).
Furthermore, a trustee may sometimes be able to eliminate the complexities and tensions associated with administering a “net income” trust by converting the trust to a much more manageable Unitrust.
With a unitrust, the net income beneficiary receives a certain percentage of the trust’s average year end value as determined for the prior three years. The unitrust distribution percentage is from 3 to 5%.
A unitrust approach may be drafted into the settlor’s trust while the settlor is still alive as part of the estate planning, in which case the unitrust applies from the very start of administering the trust after the settlor’s death.
The foregoing is a brief discussion of the trust principal and income concepts. For legal guidance regarding beneficial rights and trustee duties consult a qualified attorney.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, Calif. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and 707-263-3235.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has dozens of dogs ready for adoption.
Among the dogs available this week are “Ella,” a female Rottweiler mix with a short black and tan coat.
There also is “Ivy,” a female Labrador retriever mix with a short tan coat.
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.
Chanell Washington, Thomas Gryn, Lydia Anderson and Rose M. Kreider
Multigenerational households — three or more generations under one roof — made up 4.7% of all U.S. households but 7.2% of family households in 2020, an increase from 2010.
Family households are those with at least one person related to the householder by birth, marriage or adoption.
There were 6.0 million U.S. multigenerational households in 2020, up from 5.1 million in 2010, according to 2020 Census data released recently.
Lake County, California, was in the highest quartile for multigenerational households.
Multigenerational households were not equally distributed across the nation and the map below (Figure 1) shows the percentage of all family households that were multigenerational in 2020 by county.
While 2020 Census data show that 7.2% of all family households were multigenerational nationwide, county level percentages are wide-ranging, from 0.5% to 31.0%.
Multigenerational households were more prevalent throughout the South, Puerto Rico and some western states. This is consistent with 2010 data that also showed a higher percentage of multigenerational households throughout the South and West.
In 2020, many counties in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, for example, had a high percentage of multigenerational households (Table 1). However, other states in the West like Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, had many counties with a lower prevalence of multigenerational households. These households were also less common in the Midwest and Northeast.
Children living with grandparents
In 2020, 6.1 million or 8.4% of children under age 18 lived in their grandparents’ home (Figure 2), up from 5.8 million in 2010.
Counties in Puerto Rico and throughout states in the South and West tended to have a greater share of children living in their grandparents’ home while counties in the Midwest – particularly in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin – had a smaller share.
The five counties with the greatest shares of children living with their grandparents were predominantly in the West, and those with the smallest shares were all in the Midwest.
Chanell Washington, Thomas Gryn, Lydia Anderson and Rose M. Kreider are family demographers in the Fertility and Family Statistics Branch of the Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division.
NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission acquired stunning views of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different points along our neighboring planet’s orbit around the Sun.
By viewing the planet in ultraviolet wavelengths, scientists can gain insight into the Martian atmosphere and view surface features in remarkable ways.
MAVEN’s Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument obtained these global views of Mars in 2022 and 2023 when the planet was near opposite ends of its elliptical orbit.
The IUVS instrument measures wavelengths between 110 and 340 nanometers, outside the visible spectrum.
To make these wavelengths visible to the human eye and easier to interpret, the images are rendered with the varying brightness levels of three ultraviolet wavelength ranges represented as red, green, and blue.
In this color scheme, atmospheric ozone appears purple, while clouds and hazes appear white or blue. The surface can appear tan or green, depending on how the images have been optimized to increase contrast and show detail.
The first image was taken in July 2022 during the southern hemisphere’s summer season, which occurs when Mars passes close to the Sun.
The summer season is caused by the tilt of the planet’s rotational axis, similar to seasons on Earth. Argyre Basin, one of Mars’ deepest craters, appears at bottom left filled with atmospheric haze (depicted as pale pink).
The deep canyons of Valles Marineris appear at top left filled with clouds (colored tan in this image).
The southern polar ice cap is visible at bottom in white, shrinking from the relative warmth of summer. Southern summer warming and dust storms drive water vapor to very high altitudes, explaining MAVEN’s discovery of enhanced hydrogen loss from Mars at this time of year.
The second image is of Mars’ northern hemisphere and was taken in January 2023 after Mars had passed the farthest point in its orbit from the Sun. The rapidly changing seasons in the north polar region cause an abundance of white clouds. The deep canyons of Valles Marineris can be seen in tan at lower left, along with many craters. Ozone, which appears magenta in this UV view, has built up during the northern winter’s chilly polar nights. It is then destroyed in northern spring by chemical reactions with water vapor, which is restricted to low altitudes of the atmosphere at this time of year.
MAVEN launched in November 2013 and entered Mars’ orbit in September 2014. The mission’s goal is to explore the planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and solar wind to explore the loss of the Martian atmosphere to space.
Understanding atmospheric loss gives scientists insight into the history of Mars' atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability. The MAVEN team is preparing to celebrate the spacecraft’s 10th year at Mars in September 2024.
MAVEN’s principal investigator is based at the University of California, Berkeley, while NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provides navigation and Deep Space Network support. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder is responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications.
Willow Reed is MAVEN communications lead for the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder.
Ocean temperatures have been off the charts since mid-March 2023, with the highest average levels in 40 years of satellite monitoring, and the impact is breaking through in disruptive ways around the world.
The sea of Japan is more than 7 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) warmer than average. The Indian monsoon, closely tied to conditions in the warm Indian Ocean, has been well below its expected strength.
Spain, France, England and the whole Scandinavian Peninsula are also seeing rainfall far below normal, likely connected to an extraordinary marine heat wave in the eastern North Atlantic. Sea surface temperatures there have been 1.8 to 5 F (1 to 3 C) above average from the coast of Africa all the way to Iceland.
So, what’s going on?
El Niño is partly to blame. This climate phenomenon, now developing in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, is characterized by warm waters in the central and eastern Pacific, which generally weakens the trade winds in the tropics. This weakening of those winds can affect oceans and land around the world.
But there are other forces at work on ocean temperatures.
The world just came off three straight years of La Niña – El Niño’s opposite, characterized by cooler waters rising in the equatorial Pacific. La Niña has a cooling effect globally that helps keep global sea surface temperatures in check but can also mask global warming. With that cooling effect turned off, the heat is increasingly evident.
Arctic sea ice was also unusually low in May and early June, and it may play a role. Losing ice cover can increase water temperatures, because dark open water absorbs solar radiation that white ice had reflected back into space.
These influences are playing out in various ways around the world.
The effects of extraordinary Atlantic heat
In early June 2023, I visited the NORCE climate center in Bergen, Norway, for two weeks to meet with other ocean scientists. The warm waters and mild winds across the eastern North Atlantic brought a long stretch of sunny, warm weather in a month when more than 70% of days normally would have been downpours.
The whole agricultural sector of Norway is now bracing for a drought as bad as the one in 2018, when yield was 40% below normal. Our train from Bergen to Oslo had a two-hour delay because the brakes of one car overheated and the 90 F (32 C) temperatures approaching the capital were too high to allow them to cool down.
Many scientists have speculated on the causes of the eastern North Atlantic’s unusually high temperatures, and several studies are underway.
Weakened winds caused the Azores high, a semi-permanent high pressure system over the Atlantic that affects Europe’s weather, to be especially weak and brought less dust from the Sahara over the ocean during the spring, which may have increased the amount of solar radiation reaching the water. A decrease in human-produced aerosol emissions in Europe and in the United States over the past few years – which has succeeded in improving air quality – may also have reduced the cooling effect such aerosols have.
That may be happening – the monsoon was much weaker than normal from mid-May to mid-June 2023. That can be a problem for a large part of South Asia, where most of the agriculture is still rain-fed and depends heavily on the summer monsoon.
The Indian Ocean also saw an intense, slow-moving cyclone in the Arabian Sea this year that deprived land of moisture and rainfall for weeks. Studies suggest storms can sit for longer over warmer waters, gaining strength and pulling moisture to their core, and that can deprive surrounding land masses of water, increasing the risk of droughts, wildfires and marine heat waves.
North American hurricane season up in the air
In the Atlantic, the weakening trade winds with El Niño tend to tamp down hurricane activity, but warm Atlantic temperatures can supercharge those storms. Whether the ocean heat, if it persists into fall, will override El Niño’s effects remains to be seen.
Risk of marine heat waves in South America
Marine heat waves can also have huge impacts on marine ecosystems, bleaching coral reefs and causing the death or movement of entire species. Coral-based ecosystems are nurseries for fish that provide food for 1 billion people around the world.
Spring 2023 was exceptional, with several chaotic weather events accompanying the formation of El Niño and the exceptionally warmer temperatures in many parts of the world. At the same time, the warming of the oceans and atmosphere increase the chances for this kind of ocean warming.
To lower the risk, the world needs to reduce baseline warming by limiting excess greenhouse gas emissions, like fossil fuels, and move to a carbon-neutral planet. People will have to adapt to a warming climate in which extreme events are more likely and learn how to mitigate their impact.
Extreme heat disasters like this are becoming increasingly common in regions where high heat used to be rare. Blackouts during severe heat waves can also leave residents who believe they are protected because they have in home air conditioners at unexpected risk. To prepare, cities, neighborhoods, companies and individuals can take steps now that can reduce the harm.
In a new report, written with colleagues at universities and the Washington State Department of Health and released ahead of the two-year anniversary of the heat wave, we show how municipal planning agencies, parks departments, local health agencies, community-based organizations like churches and nonprofits, multiple state agencies, hospitals, public health professionals and emergency response personnel, as well as individuals and families, can play a vital role in reducing risk.
There are numerous ways to avoid this deadly of an outcome in the future. Many emerge from thinking about extreme heat as long-term risk reduction, not just short-term emergency response.
Designing environments for cooling
Greening the urban environment can reduce heat exposure and save lives. For example, planting trees and building shade structures where people are most exposed to heat can provide local relief from extreme temperatures. That includes providing shade at buildings without air conditioning and exposed public spaces, such as bus stops and parks.
Planting rooftops with vegetation, known as green roofs, or painting them white so they reflect heat rather than absorb it, can also lower roof temperatures by tens of degrees. Used widely, they can reduce an entire neighborhood’s heat island effect by several degrees.
Efforts like these, along with tree planting campaigns in public parks and rights of way, and ordinances requiring shade trees for parking lots and private development projects, can transform the urban heat landscape.
Reaching vulnerable people
When heat waves are coming, culturally nuanced outreach efforts focused on the most vulnerable populations – and involving sources they trust – can save lives.
Government heat advisories in traditional media like radio, newspapers, TV and the internet have been shown to have limited success in changing people’s behavior. In the 2022 Spokane survey, 88% of respondents indicated they were unlikely to leave their home during an extreme heat event to go to a cooling center, for example. The reasons varied, including misperception of personal risk, fear of leaving homes unoccupied, not wanting to leave pets behind and mistrust of government.
Culturally specific resources led by community-based organizations can get around the government trust issue and can be tailored to the local population.
That might mean opening cooling centers in churches or common community gathering places and launching heat awareness campaigns driven by trusted community messengers. New York City developed a door-to-door wellness check program that uses neighborhood volunteers to check on elderly and other at-risk residents.
Under this model, churches, libraries, community centers and community nonprofits take center stage, supported with resources from local and state governments. Baltimore developed more than a dozen “resiliency hubs” using this model to provide water, cooling, power for charging devices and other support.
Community-based organizations can also direct energy assistance to lower-income community members. In Spokane, one community organization created a “cooling fund” to provide portable air conditioners to those who cannot afford one.
Addressing extreme heat over the long term requires the participation of many other groups not tasked with protecting public health.
For example, landlords of multifamily housing and rental homes have an important role to play. After the 2021 heat wave, Oregon passed a law prohibiting landlords from restricting tenants’ ability to install window air conditioners.
Employers of people who work outdoors, or indoors in buildings without air conditioning, can protect workers by allowing more breaks, providing shade and water and adjusting work hours to avoid heat exposure – although concerns persist about rule enforcement and reduced pay.
Utilities can make a difference by ensuring the power stays on during high-demand periods, particularly in vulnerable neighborhoods, and working with communities to reduce costs for vulnerable people that may prevent them from using air conditioning.
Ultimately, reducing extreme heat vulnerability through multiple strategies is crucial because lives are at stake.
Coordination is essential
Extreme heat waves are forecast to occur more frequently across the globe as greenhouse gas emissions continue to warm the climate. Between 1971 and 2021, Washington state experienced an average of three extreme heat days per year. By the 2050s, climate models project that will rise to between 17 and 30 extreme heat days per year – a fivefold increase.
In the end, saving lives from extreme heat is a complicated challenge requiring coordination across multiple levels of government, agencies and the civic and private sectors.
Some cities, including Phoenix, are experimenting with heat offices tasked with this coordination. But individuals have an important role to play as well.
In addition to knowing how to protect themselves, their loved ones and their neighbors, individuals can add their voices to the rising chorus calling on all levels of government and the private and civic sectors to take urgent steps to reduce heat risk.