September is National Wilderness Month, a time to put special focus on the United States’ amazing natural resources.
From Wilderness Connect, Learn About Wilderness, Fast Facts:
The Beginnings of the National Wilderness Preservation System
“When the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, 54 areas (9.1 million acres) in 13 states were designated as wilderness. This law established these areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Since 1964, the NWPS has grown almost every year and now includes 803 areas (111,706,287) in 44 states and Puerto Rico. In 1980, the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) added over 56 million acres of wilderness to the system, the largest addition in a single year. 1984 marks the year when the most new wilderness areas were added.
“Overall, however, only about 5% of the entire United States—an area slightly larger than the state of California—is protected as wilderness. Because Alaska contains just over half of America's wilderness, only about 2.7% of the contiguous United States—an area about the size of Minnesota—is protected as wilderness.”
From The American Presidency Project, Proclamation 10248—National Wilderness Month, 2021:
“During National Wilderness Month, we affirm that our Nation's public lands and waters must be accessible to all Americans, we recognize that our lands and waters can revitalize the soul and solidify our respect for the natural wonders that surround us and the earth we share, and we recommit to their preservation and protection, today and for future generations.
“The Wilderness Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, opened a new chapter in American conservation by creating the National Wilderness Preservation System. The primary goal of the act is to preserve the places "where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled." Today, the National Wilderness Preservation System includes more than 800 wilderness areas spanning more than 111 million acres. These wilderness areas are located within national forests, parks, wildlife refuges, and conservation lands and waters. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans turned to these areas for physical recreation, mental well-being, and inspiration, and our public lands and waters became places of healing and sanctuary.
“But our natural wonders are at risk. Now more than ever, we must come together to combat the climate crisis and unprecedented acceleration of species extinction, to protect and conserve our great outdoors before it is too late.”
For almost three years, scientists have raced to understand the immune responses in patients who develop severe COVID-19, with an enormous effort aimed at defining where healthy immunity ends and destructive immunity begins.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, much attention focused on reports of harmful inflammation and so-called cytokine storms – dangerous immune overreactions that can lead to tissue damage and death – in patients with severe COVID-19. It wasn’t long before researchers began to identify antibodies that target the patient’s own body rather than attacking SARS-CoV-2, the virus the causes COVID-19.
As an immunologist and member of an interdisciplinary team of physicians and scientists investigating the intersection between COVID-19 and autoimmunity, I have been working to understand the origins of these untamed antibody responses and their long-term effects. Led by Ignacio Sanz, a specialist in investigating the immune dysfunctions that underlie autoimmune diseases like lupus, our group has long suspected that these misdirected immune responses may follow patients well after recovery and could even contribute to the debilitating set of symptoms commonly referred to as “long COVID-19.”
Our new study, published in the journal Nature, helps shed light on these questions. We now know that in patients with severe COVID-19, many of the developing antibodies responsible for neutralizing the viral threat are simultaneously targeting their own organs and tissues. We also show that self-directed antibodies can persist for months or even years in those suffering from long COVID-19.
As researchers like us continue to study COVID-19, our understanding of the link between antiviral immunity and chronic autoimmune disease is rapidly evolving.
The immune system makes mistakes when under duress
It’s easy to assume that your immune system is laser-focused on identifying and destroying foreign invaders, but that isn’t the case – at least under some circumstances. Your immune system, even in its healthy state, contains a contingent of cells that are fully capable of targeting and destroying your own cells and tissues.
To prevent self-destruction, the immune system relies on an intricate series of fail-safes that are collectively termed self-tolerance to identify and eliminate potentially traitorous immune cells. One of the most important steps in this process occurs as the immune system builds up its arsenal against a potential threat.
When your immune system first encounters a pathogen or even a perceived threat – such as a vaccine that resembles a virus – it rapidly recruits “B” cells that have the potential to become antibody-producers. Then, any of these “naive” B cell recruits – naive being a technical term used in immunology – that demonstrate an ability to competently attack the invader are put into a boot camp of sorts.
Here, the cells are trained to better recognize and combat the threat. The training period is intense and mistakes are not tolerated; B cells with any discernible potential for misdirected attacks against their host are killed. However, like any training process, this buildup and mobilization takes time – typically a week or two.
So, what happens when the threat is more immediate – when someone is quite literally fighting for their life in an intensive care unit?
Researchers now know that under the stress of severe viral infection with SARS-CoV-2, that training process collapses. Instead, it is replaced by an emergency response in which new recruits with little training are rushed into battle.
Friendly fire is the unfortunate result.
High-risk immune responses are mostly transient
Our team’s new work reveals that in the heat of battle with severe COVID-19, the same antibodies responsible for fighting the virus are uncomfortably prone to targeting a patient’s own tissue. Importantly, this effect seems mostly restricted to severe disease. We identified the cells that produce these rogue antibodies much less frequently in patients with mild forms of the illness whose immune responses were more measured.
So, does that mean that everyone who gets severe COVID-19 develops an autoimmune disorder?
Fortunately, no. By following patients after their infection has resolved, we have found that months later, most of the concerning indications of autoimmunity have subsided. And this makes sense. Though we are identifying this phenomenon in human COVID-19, researchers studying these emergency immune responses for more than a decade in mice have determined that they are mostly short-lived.
With debilitating symptoms that can include the long-term loss of taste, smell or both, general fatigue, brain fog and a variety of other conditions, these patients have continued to suffer and are rightfully looking for answers.
An obvious question for researchers who are studying these patients is whether the same self-targeted antibodies that are emerging in severe COVID-19 are lingering in those who suffer from long COVID-19. They are. Our new study makes clear that newly developed self-antibodies can persist for months. What’s more, in work currently under development and not yet peer-reviewed, we find that these responses are not restricted to those recovering from severe illness, and are readily identifiable in a large subset of long COVID-19 patients who had recovered from more mild illness as well.
Just as it was in the race to better understand the causes of acute disease earlier in the pandemic, we researchers are now working to get a more complete understanding of the cells and antibodies directing this self-attack for months and years following the resolution of infection.
Are they directly contributing to the symptoms long COVID-19 sufferers are experiencing? If so, are there therapeutic interventions that could blunt or eliminate the threats they pose? Are long COVID-19 patients at increased risk for the development of true, chronic autoimmune diseases in the future? Or, is all of this just a red herring – a temporary quirk of the immune system that will resolve on its own?
Only time and continued work in this critical area will tell.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Need a new friend? Head on over to Clearlake Animal Control and meet the adoptable dogs.
The City of Clearlake Animal Association also is seeking fosters for the animals waiting to be adopted.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
The following dogs are available for adoption. New additions are at the top.
‘Willie’
“Willie” is a male German shepherd mix with a black and tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50596003.
‘Andy’
“Andy” is a male American pit bull mix with a short gray and white coat.
He is dog No. 48995415.
‘Bear’
“Bear” is a male Labrador retriever-American pit bull mix with a short charcoal and fawn coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 48443153.
‘Bluey’
“Bluey” is a male retriever mix with a short black coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50552999.
‘Big Phil’
“Big Phil” is a 13-year-old male American pit bull terrier mix with a blue coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49951647.
‘Hakuna’
“Hakuna” is a male shepherd mix with a tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50176912.
‘Hondo’
“Hondo” is a male Alaskan husky mix with a buff coat.
He has been neutered.
He’s dog No. 50227693.
‘Kubota’
“Kubota” is a male German shepherd mix with a short tan and black coat.
He has been neutered.
Kubota is dog No. 50184421.
‘Mamba’
“Mamba” is a male Siberian husky mix with a gray and cream-colored coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49520569.
‘Matata’
“Matata” is male shepherd mix with a tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50176912.
‘Sadie’
“Sadie” is a female German shepherd mix with a black and tan coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 49802563.
‘Terry’
“Terry” is a handsome male shepherd mix with a short brindle coat.
He gets along with other dogs, including small ones, and enjoys toys. He also likes water, playing fetch and keep away.
Staff said he is now getting some training to help him build confidence.
He is dog No. 48443693.
‘Ziggy’
“Ziggy” is a male American pit bull terrier mix with a short gray and white coat.
He has been neutered.
Ziggy is dog No. 50146247
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. — A group of Kelseyville residents determined to find ways to protect their communities against wildland fire have formed a new organization that has received an important donation from the district supervisor.
The Konocti Fire Safe Council on Tuesday received a $10,000 donation from District 5 Supervisor Jessica Pyska. The funds came from supervisors’ discretionary cannabis funds.
“For many years now, homeowners associations in the Kelseyville-area communities known as the Rivieras have been showing strong leadership, and working effectively to reduce the risk of wildfire,” Pyska said in a statement issued by the County Administrative Office. “Establishment of the Konocti Fire Safe Council brings valuable coordination to these efforts, and better positions these communities to access grant funding in the future.”
“Everyone in the county, by and large, agrees the Rivieras would be the worst place for a rural fire to occur. There are many homes, with a lot of local fuels, and limited access and firefighting capabilities,” said Konocti Fire Safe Council President Kathy Andre.
Council Treasurer Bill Groody told Lake County News the group officially formed in June, but that it has actually been meeting a year or longer. It grew out of an effort to get a new firehouse in the Soda Bay corridor as a means of lowering insurance rates and increasing response times.
He said that morphed into Measure A, which the Kelseyville Fire Protection District put before voters late last year. In addition to the firehouse, the measure was meant to increase staffing and equipment.
However, the measure failed. As a result, Groody said the new group grew out of community members in four homeowners associations — Clear Lake Riviera, Buckingham, Riviera West and Riviera Heights — asking how they could improve safety conditions in the Soda Bay corridor without the measure.
Thus the Konocti Fire Safe Council was born. In addition to Groody, the board includes President Kathy Andre, Vice President Phil Hartley, and members Cindy Jassar, John Nowell, Rian Sommerfield and Kathy Sylar.
Its coverage area runs along Clear Lake State Park and follows the lakeshore, extends down to Point Lakeview Road then back along Highway 29, up along Kelsey Creek in Kelseyville and Gaddy Lane to the state park. Groody said they also are including the western side of Mount Konocti, where a fire could potentially start and come over the mountain.
Groody said they are trying to bring together not just the four homeowners associations but also representatives from areas outside the associations’ boundaries.
The council seeks to increase community wildfire preparedness and survivability through education, project and resource development, evacuation readiness and hazardous fuel reduction.
When the group formed, Groody said each homeowners association agreed to contribute $1,000 a year. When Pyska saw those and other fundraising efforts were underway, Groody said she offered the discretionary funds. “We’re very thankful for that.”
Thanks to that funding, “We have our core operating expenses taken care of for the next three years,” Groody said, noting they’re operating on a “modest” budget.
That strong financial start will allow them to focus on fundraising and pursuing grants for bigger efforts, he said.
Groody said the group plans to coordinate and work with other community groups and local government agencies to improve wildfire safety around their communities.
He said they are still in the formative stages, getting the group off the ground and preparing to develop a social media presence and website.
They plan to pursue grants and other funding to carry out a number of projects, including working on evacuation routes, Groody said, and removing brush and dead tree clearing along the Soda Bay corridor, which are critical.
The situation on Soda Bay road is very urgent with regard to clearing, he said.
They’ve looked at options for brush clearing, including goats. “Every goat that’s available is out there eating now,” Groody said.
They also want to identify the 100 most hazardous trees in the area in order to have them removed. Groody pointed out that the board, at the request of Pyska, declared a tree mortality emergency.
He pointed out that in the past two and a half weeks there have been three fires in the council’s coverage area.
“The urgency is there,” he said.
The No. 1 priority, said Groody, is coordinating to use grant funds given to the county by Cal Fire to improve Soda Bay Road as an evacuation route.
“I think we’re going to be heavily involved in working on this evacuation plan,” he said.
With the county being short-staffed, Groody said the homeowners’ associations may end up being fiscal agents to help move that project along.
They’re also looking at ways to free up some of the assessment funding covering Clear Lake Riviera, Buckingham, Riviera West and Riviera Heights, as well as lots adjacent to them within County Service Area No. 23 that went into effect in 2019.
The one-time assessment, the proceeds of which were meant to be used for vegetation management, followed approval by voters in the associations and the Board of Supervisors based on a plan put forward by then-District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown.
To reach the council, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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.
What's Up for September? Mars on the move, prime viewing time for Jupiter, and a clever way to find your bearings on the equinox.
You'll find Mars hanging out high in the south on September mornings before sunrise.
Early in the month, it's near orange-colored Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus the bull. And over the course of the month, Mars works its way eastward from Aldebaran toward reddish Betelgeuse, creating a sort of "red triangle" in the morning sky.
Then the Red Planet will appear to hit the brakes and halt its eastward motion, to hang out in that triangle for the next month or so. (We'll talk about what's going on there in our October video…)
On the morning of the 11th, before sunrise, you'll find the Moon just a couple of finger-widths from Jupiter on the sky, making for a great viewing opportunity to observe them together through binoculars.
Jupiter's at opposition this month, making it visible all night under clear skies. And it's around this time when the planet's at its biggest and brightest for telescope viewing. But a pair of binoculars is enough to reveal the giant planet's four large moons as little starlike points of light next to Jupiter.
And this month, NASA's Jupiter-orbiting Juno spacecraft is slated to make a special, fast flyby of one of those icy moons, Europa, on the 29th. The spacecraft is planned to pass a little over 200 miles above the moon's surface, returning images and science data. And NASA is currently preparing its Europa Clipper spacecraft for launch in 2024.
It's planned to make dozens of close flybys of Europa to investigate whether the moon could have conditions suitable for life.
Turning to the evening sky, you'll have Saturn together with Jupiter as your planetary companions all month long. On the night of Sept. 9, Jupiter and Saturn escort the Moon across the sky.
You'll find the trio rising in the southeast in the first couple of hours after dark, and gliding westward together over the course of the night.
By the end of the month, you'll find the pair of planets is rising even earlier, appearing in the east soon after it gets dark, with bright Jupiter hanging low in the sky.
Sept. 23 brings the September equinox, which marks the start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and the start of spring in the Southern Hemisphere.
The equinoxes occur twice per year, when Earth's tilt with respect to the Sun is the same for both hemispheres. Both north and south receive the same amount of sunlight, and day and night are, briefly, of nearly equal length.
And, get this: if you take note of exactly where the Sun appears to rise and set on the equinoxes, those points mark the locations of due east and due west, respectively.
And that's something useful to know for skywatchers, whatever hemisphere you happen to live in. So take note of any buildings, tall trees, lampposts, and the like at those places on the horizon, and you can use them to find your bearings when looking skyward all year long.
Here are the phases of the Moon for September. Stay up to date with all of NASA's missions to explore the solar system and beyond at www.nasa.gov.
Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
As the Eurasian strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian influenza, or HPAI, H5N1 continues to impact wild and domestic birds across the state, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, or CDFW, wildlife disease specialists are reminding the public of steps they can take to help reduce the spread of infection.
To date HPAI H5N1 has been detected in 34 wild birds from 13 counties including Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Mendocino, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus and Yolo.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture, or CDFA, has also reported detections of HPAI H5N1 in domestic birds in Butte, Contra Costa, Sacramento, Fresno and Tuolumne counties.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza is contagious among birds, and domestic birds such as chickens are especially vulnerable.
The strain of Eurasian HPAI H5N1 currently in circulation in the U.S. and Canada has been causing illness and death in a higher diversity of wild bird species than during previous avian influenza outbreaks.
In particular, waterfowl, other water birds, raptor predators and avian scavengers such as vultures and gulls have been affected.
Unfortunately, infection in these species is nearly always fatal, and no vaccines or treatments are available.
Help reduce the spread of HPAI:
• Report dead wild birds to CDFW using the mortality reporting form. While it is not possible to test every wild bird for HPAI, all mortality reports are important and help disease specialists monitor the outbreak. • Report sick and dead poultry to the CDFA hotline at 886-922-2473. • Prevent contact between domestic birds and wild birds, especially waterfowl. • Exclude wild birds from accessing chicken or other domestic bird feed and water. • Do not bring potentially sick wild birds home or move sick birds to another location. • Before transporting potentially sick wild birds to wildlife rehabilitation centers, veterinary clinics or other animal facilities, contact the facility for guidance and to determine if the bird should be collected. • If recreating outdoors in areas with large concentrations of waterfowl and other water birds, wash clothing and disinfect footwear and equipment before traveling to other areas or interacting with domestic birds. • Where it can be done so safely, consider disposing of dead birds to help reduce exposure to new birds and minimize scavenging by birds and mammals that also may be susceptible to infection.
The Centers for Disease Control considers the transmission risk of avian influenza to people to be low, but as a general precaution recommends limiting contact with wild birds and sick or dead poultry.
If there is a need to dispose of a dead bird, wear impermeable gloves or a plastic bag turned inside-out to collect the remains into a plastic garbage bag, which may then be placed in the regular trash collection.
Afterward, wash hands with soap and water and change clothing before having contact with domestic poultry or pet birds. If assistance or guidance is needed with the disposal of dead birds on private property, contact your county environmental health department or animal services for options available in your area.
For more information on HPAI H5N1, check out CDFW’s informational flier addressing frequently asked questions and links to additional resources. The U.S. Department of Agriculture maintains the official list of HPAI H5N1 detections on its website. For guidance on keeping domestic birds healthy, please visit the CDFA and USDA websites.
For guidance on orphaned or injured live wild birds, please contact your nearest wildlife rehabilitation center prior to collecting the animal. Be advised that some wildlife rehabilitation centers may have restrictions on the wildlife species they will admit.
A new paper reviews past earthquakes to better understand potential future risks.
The San Andreas may be the most well-known fault in California, but no one alive today experienced its most recent significant earthquake that ruptured 116 years ago.
The Great San Francisco Earthquake struck at 5:12 a.m. local time on April 18, 1906. The magnitude 7.9 quake caused shaking that lasted up to 60 seconds and sent vibrations all the way to southern Oregon, Los Angeles, and central Nevada. The earthquake and subsequent fires killed an estimated 3,000 people and left half of the city’s 400,000 residents homeless.
Researchers study older significant earthquakes like this one to better understand how frequently they strike on a fault. Although no one can predict when an earthquake will occur, scientists can better assess seismic hazards by calculating the probability of a ground-rupturing earthquake occurring in a specific area within a certain number of years.
Considering the historical average rate of large earthquakes on some faults in California, including the San Andreas, the odds that there hasn’t been a major earthquake in the last 116 years are very low.
In a new publication, USGS geologist Devin McPhillips studied sites along three faults in California with long histories of earthquakes to better understand what’s happening.
“The wait between earthquakes might be longer than we previously thought because the evidence for older earthquakes isn’t always 100% accurate,” McPhillips said. “If some of these older earthquakes are misidentified, then the long wait we are currently experiencing might be more typical.”
It's California's fault
The San Andreas Fault first captured the world’s attention on that fateful April day 116 years ago when it ruptured along the northernmost 296 miles (477 km) of the 800 mile- (1300 km) long fault that marks where the Pacific plate slides by the North American plate.
The relative movement along the fault varied from 2 to 32 feet (0.5 m to 9.7 m), which means if two people were standing on opposite sides of the fault, in some places one would slide away from each other by up to 32 feet from the other. In southern California, the last rupture of the San Andreas Fault occurred in 1857.
Geologists find that the total accumulated displacement from earthquakes (sudden fault movement) and creep (steady fault movement) is at least 350 miles (560 km) along the San Andreas fault since it came into being about 15 to 20 million years ago.
In addition to the San Andreas Fault, McPhillips also studied two additional sites on the Hayward and San Jacinto faults.
The Hayward Fault’s most recent damaging earthquake was more than 150 years ago. USGS scientists have found evidence for 12 quakes on the southern Hayward Fault during the past 1,900 years. Notably, the last six quakes (from 1134 to 1868) occurred at intervals of 95 to 183 years, with an average interval of about 150 years.
Using past clues to understand future earthquakes
Whenever an earthquake happens, it leaves telltale signs that eventually get buried or imprinted into outcrops and other geologic formations. For instance, fault scarps (when a side of a fault has moved vertically with respect to the other), offset or folded layers of sediment and soil, and parts of the landscape that have been tilted, uplifted, or torn apart are all signs of an ancient earthquake.
For the most part, researchers only see evidence for earthquakes above magnitude 6, because smaller quakes don’t typically leave behind evidence. To expose what happened, researchers can dig trenches along a fault. Inside a trench, they can see when and how frequently an earthquake hit that spot.
They tally how many past earthquakes they see and determine the number of years separating each earthquake. Those numbers help them determine a recurrence interval, which is the average time between earthquakes at the same site along a fault.
McPhillips calculated recurrence intervals for sites on the San Andreas, Hayward, and San Jacinto faults. He also refined some calculations of recurrence intervals to consider whether past earthquakes were correctly interpreted as unique earthquakes.
“Some trench sites can have 10 or more records of past earthquakes and recurrence intervals are usually a little over 100 years,” McPhillips said. “But we aren’t 100% confident on what we’re inferring about past earthquakes.”
At the Thousand Palms paleoseismic site in Southern California, the 97.5% confidence interval changes from 455 years to 1431 years when event likelihoods are considered. Event likelihood is the probability that the evidence has been correctly interpreted as a unique earthquake. “When we acknowledge that not all inferred past earthquakes are real and unique, the range of likely recurrence intervals can get much wider,” McPhillips said.
He incorporated the uncertainty into his research to better understand how it can affect recurrence intervals for various sites, including the one in Thousand Palms. Having more accurate recurrence intervals can bolster the Unified California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, which is a comprehensive model of earthquake occurrences for California.
“Anytime we can improve our earthquake models and data, we give people more confidence in our forecasts to better understand potential hazards,” McPhillips said.
Caltrans and the California Coastal Commission are joining forces for the 38th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 17 and are inviting the public to participate in cleanup and litter prevention activities throughout September.
“The California Coastal Commission’s Coastal Cleanup Day and Caltrans’ Let’s Change This to That stormwater public education campaign are collaborating to create even more awareness to help reduce litter and water pollution,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “We’re asking people to join us this month to clean up the waterways and beaches that belong to us all.”
Caltrans and the California Coastal Commission invite Californians to participate by cleaning up their neighborhoods, parks and local areas during the month of September.
The monthlong effort is focused not only on the coastline but also along rivers, creeks and lakes.
Trash from inland areas can flow downstream, so cleaning up neighborhoods can prevent litter and debris from ever reaching vital waterways.
“We are excited to expand our long-standing partnership with Caltrans this year,” said California Coastal Commission Executive Director Jack Ainsworth. “By emphasizing the impact trash can have on stormwater and the potential for that litter to eventually pollute our waterways, our two agencies are working together to emphasize that these waterways, like the ocean, are downhill from all of us.”
Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino and Lake County residents who want to join the cleanup effort can participate in these local events:
• Clear Lake Shoreline near Lakeport from 9 a.m. to noon on Sept. 17. • Halvorsen Park in Eureka from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 10. • Glass Beach near Fort Bragg from 9 a.m. to noon on Sept. 17 • South Beach in Crescent City from 9 a.m. to noon on Sept. 17. • Houda Point in Trinidad from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Sept. 25. • Moonstone Beach in Trinidad from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Sept. 25. • Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 25. • These cleanups listed by the North Coast Environmental Center.
A map of events throughout the state is available on the Coastal Cleanup Day website, and information is updated regularly as events are confirmed.
In 1993, California Coastal Cleanup Day was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “largest garbage collection” ever organized, with more than 50,000 volunteers.
Since then, the reach of Coastal Cleanup Day has steadily spread inland, where most of the debris found on California’s beaches starts as urban trash or litter.
Established by voter initiative in 1972, the California Coastal Commission is committed to protecting and enhancing California’s coast and ocean for present and future generations. It does so through careful planning and regulation of environmentally sustainable development, rigorous use of science, strong public participation, education and effective intergovernmental coordination.
Let’s Change This to That is a three-year public education campaign led by Caltrans to raise awareness and increase understanding of the sources and pathways of stormwater pollution throughout California.
The campaign provides resources for people who live, work and play in California’s unique communities to spur behavior change in ways that lead to improved water quality.
Artemis I will send a rocket without a crew on a monthlong journey around the Moon. The program aims to increase women’s participation in space exploration – 30% of its engineers are women. In addition, the Artemis I mission will carry two mannequins designed to study the effects of radiation on women’s bodies so that NASA can learn how to protect female astronauts better.
Female astronauts are currently less likely to be selected for missions than men because their bodies tend to hit NASA’s maximum acceptable threshold of radiation earlier. NASA expects to bring the first woman and person of color to the Moon on Artemis III sometime after 2024.
As a scholar of Greek mythology, I find the name of the mission quite evocative: The Greeks and Romans associated Artemis with the Moon, and she has also become a modern-day feminist icon.
Artemis was a major deity in ancient Greece, worshiped at least as early as the beginning of the first millennium B.C., or even earlier. She was a daughter of Zeus, the chief god of the Olympians, who ruled the world from the summit of Mount Olympus. She was also the twin sister of Apollo, god of the Sun and oracles.
Artemis was a virgin goddess of the wilderness and hunting. Her independence and strength have long inspired women in a wide range of activities. For example, in a poem titled “Artemis,” author Allison Eir Jenks writes: “I’m no longer your god-mother … your chef, your bus-stop, your therapist, your junk-drawer,” emphasizing women’s freedom and autonomy.
As the goddess of animals and the wilderness, Artemis has also inspired environmental conservancy programs, in which the goddess is viewed as an example of a woman exercising her power by caring for the planet.
However, while the Greek Artemis was strong and courageous, she wasn’t always kind and caring, even toward women. Her rashness was used to explain a woman’s sudden death, especially while giving birth. This aspect of the goddess has faded away with time. With the rise of feminism, Artemis has become an icon of feminine power and self-reliance.
NASA has a long history of naming its missions after mythological figures. Starting in the 1950s, many rockets and launch systems were named after Greek sky deities, like Atlas and Saturn, whose Greek name is Cronos.
Atlas and Saturn weren’t just gods, they were Titans. In Greek mythology, Titans represent the untamed, primordial forces of nature, and so they evoke the prodigious vastness of space exploration. Although the Titans were known for their immense strength and power, they were also rebellious and dangerous and were eventually defeated by the Olympians, who represent civilization in Greek mythology.
Following the advent of human space flight, NASA began naming missions after children of Zeus who are associated with the sky. The Mercury program, active from 1958 to 1963, was named after Hermes’ Roman counterpart, the messenger god who flies between Olympus, Earth and the underworld with his winged sandals.
Starting in 1963, the three-year-long Gemini program featured a capsule designed for two astronauts and was named after the twin sons of Zeus – Castor and Pollux, known as the Dioscuri in Greek – who were cast in the stars as the constellation of Gemini. They were regularly represented with a star above their heads in Greek and Roman art.
The space shuttle program, which lasted from 1981 to 2011, diverted from mythological monikers, and the names Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour were meant to evoke a spirit of innovation.
With Artemis, NASA is nodding back to the Apollo program, which lasted from 1963 to 1972 and put the first men on the Moon in 1969. Over 50 years later, Artemis will pick up where her twin brother left off, ushering in a more diverse era of human space flight.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has several new puppies and dogs waiting to be adopted.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Doberman pinscher, German shepherd, Great Pyrenees, hound, husky, pit bull, Rottweiler, shepherd, treeing walker coonhound and Yorkshire 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.
The following dogs 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.
Female pit bull terrier
This 2-year-old female pit bull terrier has a black and white coat.
Shelter staff said she is a gentle girl with a loving personality who came into the shelter needing some tender loving care.
She is in kennel No. 9, ID No. LCAC-A-3856.
Male pit bull terrier
This 1-year-old male pit bull terrier has a gray and white coat.
Shelter staff said is a playful young dog who does well on a leash and loves fetch. He will benefit from training.
He is in kennel No. 10, ID No. LCAC-A-3855.
Male Rottweiler-shepherd mix
This male Rottweiler-shepherd mix puppy has a short black and tan coat.
“This little pup is shy when meeting new people, but with the right toy and some TLC he warms up and shows some true puppy spirit,” shelter staff reported.
He is in kennel No. 13, ID No. LCAC-A-3851.
Male hound mix puppy
This 6-month-old male hound mix puppy has a short brindle coat.
Shelter staff said he is very playful with a lot of energy, and he loves toys. “He is extremely treat motivated and has shown he is eager to learn all the cool tricks you could teach him.”
This 2-month-old female treeing walker coonhound-Doberman pinscher has a short tan coat.
She is in kennel No. 16d, ID No. LCAC-A-3927.
Male treeing walker coonhound-Doberman pinscher puppy
This 2-month-old male treeing walker coonhound-Doberman pinscher has a short tricolor coat.
He is in kennel No. 17a, ID No. LCAC-A-3921.
Male treeing walker coonhound-Doberman pinscher puppy
This 2-month-old male treeing walker coonhound-Doberman pinscher has a short tan and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 17b, ID No. LCAC-A-3922.
Male treeing walker coonhound-Doberman pinscher puppy
This 2-month-old male treeing walker coonhound-Doberman pinscher has a short tricolor coat.
He is in kennel No. 17c, ID No. LCAC-A-3923.
Female hound mix
This 1-year-old female hound mix has a short brown and white coat.
Shelter staff said she loves to be around people and will show you the true meaning of a lap dog. She enjoys toys and walks well with a leash.
He is in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-3766.
Female treeing walker coonhound
This young female treeing walker coonhound has a short black brindle coat.
She is in kennel No. 22, ID No. LCAC-A-3776.
Female German shepherd
This 1-year-old female German shepherd has a short black and tan coat.
She is in kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-3780.
Male German shepherd
This 2-year-old male German shepherd has a black and tan coat.
Shelter staff called him a “handsome sweet dude who is motivated by treats and does well walking on a leash.
He is in kennel No. 25, ID No. LCAC-A-3870.
Male German shepherd
This 3-year-old male German shepherd has a black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 26, ID No. LCAC-A-3929.
Female husky
This 1-year-old female husky has a cream and black coat.
She is in kennel No. 27, ID No. LCAC-A-3893.
Male Yorkshire terrier
This 2-year-old male Yorkshire terrier has a long black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 29, ID No. LCAC-A-3950.
‘Poppy’
“Poppy” is a 4-month-old female Great Pyrenees with a short white and gray coat.
She is in kennel No. 30, ID No. LCAC-A-3790.
Male German shepherd
This 1-year-old male German shepherd has a black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 31, ID No. LCAC-A-3930.
‘Piper’
“Piper” is a young female Great Pyrenees with a short white coat.
She is in kennel No. 34, ID No. LCAC-A-3789.
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. — On Friday, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) released a report that showed families in the Fifth Congressional District will soon see more affordable prescription drugs for Medicare recipients and lower health insurance premiums made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act.
“In the wealthiest country on earth, no one should go bankrupt when receiving health care. For too long, Americans have been forced to choose between putting food on the table or going to the doctor,” said Thompson. “With the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law, our community is going to see lower health care costs from lower premiums and prescription drug costs.”
The Inflation Reduction Act benefits the district with:
Affordable Health Care
By extending critical tax credits set to expire this year, the Inflation Reduction Act will help 28,734 people in the district currently enrolled in subsidized marketplace health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act save an average of $1,379 in premiums starting next year.
Lower prescription drug costs
The Inflation Reduction Act caps Medicare beneficiaries’ annual out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs covered by Medicare Part D at $2,000 per year starting in 2025. An estimated 2,000 Medicare Part D beneficiaries in our district had out-of-pocket costs above $2,000 in 2020.
For the estimated 5,800 Medicare beneficiaries receiving insulin in our district, the new law will cap monthly copayments for insulin products at $35 per month.
The Inflation Reduction Act allows the government to negotiate lower drug prices. If the Inflation Reduction Act’s drug pricing provisions had been fully in effect in 2020:
• The total cost of prescriptions filled by Medicare beneficiaries in our district could have been $24 million lower. • Medicare beneficiaries in our district could have saved a total of $7 million in reduced premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
The report on benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act health coverage provisions for the district can be found here.
The report on benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act Medicare drug pricing provisions for our district can be found here.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — During a short regular meeting on Thursday, the Clearlake City Council received an update on the activities of the recently created recreation and events division.
The council approved the creation of the new division, located within the city’s Administrative Services Department, in June.
Tina Viramontes, the city’s facilities coordinator/deputy city clerk, also is the recreation and events coordinator and gave the council the brief report on Thursday evening.
Viramontes said staff is pursuing grants, including some that could give the city funds for new baseball fields.
They’re also working on summer camps and low impact exercise for adults, in particular active seniors, Viramontes said.
The city has hosted a three-show summer concert series, has plans for a circus from Sept. 8 to 11; movies in the Park on Sept. 17, Oct. 15 and Oct. 29; Trunk or Treat and Hocus-pocus Movie Night at Halloween; and on Dec. 3, Breakfast with Santa and the Christmas parade.
Other events Viramontes said the city has planned include a comedy show fundraiser dinner, Bunny Brunch, kayaking on the lake, the soap box derby and cornhole tournament. The 2023 summer concert series is slated to expand, with five shows.
Viramontes said they are working on partnerships with a number of local organizations, including Konocti Unified School District, the Rotary Club of Clearlake, Hope Rising, Blue Zones, Clearlake Campground, PEG TV, the Lake County Office of Education and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce.
She said they also are working on a policies and procedures manual and doing outreach through social media, radio advertising, and sharing information with schools and businesses.
For more about city-sponsored events visit the city’s calendar page.
To find out more about the recreation and events division, including details about partnerships, call Viramontes at 707-994-8201, Extension 131.
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.