LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council this week will discuss making changes to its recruitment for the police chief job and also discuss city road projects.
The council will meet Tuesday, March 5, at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. Masks are highly encouraged where 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained.
If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799.
The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the city clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments before 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5.
On Tuesday, Administrative Services Director Kelly Buendia will ask for the county’s authorization to extend a housing allowance of $1,000 per month not to exceed $12,000 to the successful candidate in the city’s police chief search in an effort to mitigate the challenges associated with the tight housing market and high interest rates.
Current Police Chief Brad Rasmussen is expected to retire by year’s end. He’s also a candidate in the race for District 4 supervisor.
Also on Tuesday, Public Works Director Ronn Ladd will give the council an update on the roads program and future projects.
On the consent agenda — items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote — are ordinances; minutes of the City Council’s special and regular meetings on Feb. 20; approval of application 2024-009, with staff recommendations, for the 2024 Lakeport Camp and Shine event; approval of application 2024-010, with staff recommendations, for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People event approval of application 2024-011, with staff recommendations, for the 2024 Clear Lake Bass Tournament; approval of application 2024-012, with staff recommendations, for the Memorial Day Craft Fair; and receipt and filing of the 2024 local agency biennial notice regarding the city of Lakeport's Conflict of Interest Code.
The council also will hold a closed session to discuss a case of potential litigation.
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. — This week, as the 2024 primary arrives, one supervisorial race will be decided and two others are expected to be narrowed as voters make their decisions at the polls.
With three supervisorial races in the balance, it raises questions about how voters might choose candidates based on where they stand on certain issues and, as a result of those choices, how the direction of county government could change in the coming four years.
This year’s election primary season is shortened by three months due to the presidential primary, which takes place in March rather than June in off-presidential years.
Of the three supervisorial races on the ballot, two — for District 1 and District 4 — are open due to current supervisors Moke Simon and Michael Green, respectively, not running.
Those have opened up large fields of prospective candidates, which is often the case when an incumbent chooses not to run.
In the case of District 1, those whose names are on the ballot are Bren Boyd, a chef and proprietor at Hidden Valley Lake and a member of the Hidden Valley Lake Board; John Hess, who serves on the Lake County Planning Commission and a former chief of staff to Congresswoman Jane Harman; Sean Millerick, a small-business owner who serves as vice president of the Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District Board; and rancher and business owner Helen Owen.
Small business owner and winemaker Bryan Pritchard — who ran an unsuccessful challenge against Assemblymember Cecelia Aguiar-Curry also filed to run and will be on the ballot, however, he recently announced he was dropping out of the race.
Pritchard in turn endorsed Owen. The two had a long face-to-face talk after a candidates’ forum at Clearlake City Hall Jan. 16. Not long afterward, Pritchard dropped out and offered Owen his endorsement.
For District 4 supervisor, which serves the greater Lakeport area, the candidates are Scott Barnett, a consultant and Lakeport Planning Commission member; Laura McAndrews Sammel, chief executive officer of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce; Brad Rasmussen, chief of police for the city of Lakeport; and educator and parent, Chris Read.
Name change impacts District 5 race
Despite the shortened campaign season, one race that will be decided in March is that of District 5, which sees businessman Daniel “Boone” Bridges challenging first-term supervisor Jessica Pyska.
Both were born and raised in Lake County and have spent most of their lives and professions in the community, Bridges growing up amidst a well-known family of builders and business owners and Pyska raised in Cobb, with her father working for decades at Calpine and her mother a longtime staffer — and later school board member — for the Middletown Unified School District.
The two candidates have participated in numerous candidates’ forums throughout the shortened campaign season, punctuated by the Super Tuesday presidential primary in March instead of June.
The advantage to being on the ballot with key federal and state races tends to increase the potential for higher voter turnout.
Pyska has come to the election with the advantages of an incumbent, which include a more detailed knowledge of the job as supervisor.
Incumbents also have the disadvantage of a track record that can be scrutinized. Bridges has criticized actions in which Pyska was key, including the supervisors’ vote to give themselves a 40% raise last year.
During their campaign appearances, Bridges and Pyska have been questioned on topics as diverse as cannabis to development to county management and everything in between in a flurry of candidate debates.
They’ve been asked to discuss development, roads, cannabis, how to serve Lake County’s individual communities, how to address homelessness and the opioid crisis, improve education and improve quality of life.
However, adding another layer of complexity to the 2024 race is that, since the start of the year, there are key issues that are coming to a head in such a way that they are expected to directly impact the outcome of the primary elections for the supervisorial races and to have significant implications for the shape of county government to come.
Those issues, in particular, involve state water monitoring requirements that were triggered by actions taken by the Board of Supervisors last year in declaring an emergency regarding the Clear Lake hitch.
However, since the start of the year, one topic has come to the forefront that has the potential to influence the District 5 election’s outcome more than any other, and that is a proposal to change the name of Kelseyville to “Konocti.”
While primarily impacting District 5, it will be discussed by the Board of Supervisors as a whole.
The name change proposal, whose supporters announced two years ago in an out-of-county publication that they were working on the plan, took an official turn when in October they submitted an application to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, which is part of the United States Geological Survey which, in turn, operates under the Department of the Interior.
That meant that an issue that many thought was out of local hands, although it will be a matter of public discussion for the board as a whole as the supervisors consider making a recommendation to the Board of Geographic Names.
The proposal is put forth by a group calling itself “Citizens for Healing.” The group’s leadership includes Lorna Sue Sides, executive director of the Kelseyville Senior Center, which is being purchased by the county thanks to Pyska’s advocacy.
Their motivation is to remove the Kelsey name because of the actions of Andrew Kelsey, a white settler who, along with Charles Stone, kept Pomo as slave laborers and sexually abused women and children. Pomos enslaved by the men were brutalized; many died of famine.
After whipping and then murdering a young Pomo man, Kelsey and Stone were killed by the Pomo in 1850. In response, a group of U.S. soldiers carried out the Bloody Island massacre near Nice in May of 1850, with up to 200 tribal members killed.
In response to Citizens for Healing’s campaign, a community-based group calling itself “Save the Name of Kelseyville” — whose members include longtime local business owners and residents — are advocating to keep the name of Kelseyville. They said it’s not about honoring Andrew Kelsey, but marking the beginnings of the town, which was named Kelseyville in around 1882, more than 30 years after his death.
Those involved with fighting the name change point to the decision in March of 2006 by the Kelseyville Unified School Board to change the Kelseyville High mascot, the “Indians” to the “Knights,” a move which they said has continued to cause hard feelings rather than to allay them.
The Board of Geographic Names is now reviewing the name change matter. On Monday, the board wrote to the Lake County Board of Supervisors to ask for its recommendation, said Gina Anderson, a USGS spokesperson. Anderson said the board confirmed receiving the request.
The timing is expected to have an impact on the race now in a way that it was not originally anticipated.
Pyska has attempted to remain neutral when asked about the name change. For Bridges, it’s been quite the opposite. At a forum on Jan. 10, Bridges called the name change proposal “ridiculous.” This past week, with the election looming, he circulated an election mailer that recommended voters choose him if they want to save the name of Kelseyville.
On Friday, Anderson told Lake County News that at that point the Board of Geographic Names had received 50 emails in support of the name change, 149 emails opposed to it, and a link to copies of 282 postcards from residents opposed to the change.
In addition, Anderson said three of Lake County’s seven federally recognized tribes had submitted letters supporting the name change, although she did not say which ones.
While the issue centers on District 5, it’s been brought up in campaign forums for other districts and candidates across the races have indicated they’ve either heard from community members about it or otherwise discussed it.
And while a decision could come down before the new supervisors take office in January, they will certainly have to deal with the impacts of it.
As such, Lake County News posted the following questions to all supervisorial candidates about the name change issue, with the District 5 candidates featured first, as it most directly impacts their district.
DISTRICT 5: Boone Bridges and Jessica Pyska
Do you support the name change? Why or why not?
Bridges: “No I do not support changing the name. The identity of Kelseyville as it is today has absolutely nothing to do with a man that died 175 years ago. The identity of Kelseyville is wrapped up in the people that live in today and make it “the friendly little town” that it is. Trying to make up for the past by changing today is a fool's errand. Also the confusion that it would cause, the cost that it would be incurred by the local businesses and to the county are ridiculous. And if we open this can of worms where will it ever stop? Do we change every town name that has any association with somebody that did something bad in the past? Do we change states names that could be associated with something bad? The past is in the past and it needs to stay there.”
Pyska: “This is a complicated and controversial issue for my district and I feel very strongly that I must support the community through this difficult process by remaining neutral and encouraging everyone to make their arguments when the Board on Geographic Names opens the public comment period later this year. Unfortunately, no matter which way this turns out, there will be a winning side and a losing side, and a lot of hurt and anger in the community, and that is what weighs most heavily on my heart.”
During the course of the campaign so far, have you heard from community members about it and, if so, what stands out?
Bridges: “Of the thousand plus people I’ve talked to in the last two months I’ve only talked to only a few individuals that thought that changing the name was a good idea. The overwhelming majority of people are adamantly against it in my opinion.”
“I would like to add that only the side that is for changing the name has made personal attacks on me. I’ve been called a racist, a bigot, a genocidal maniac and a few other choice adjectives. These personal character attacks do nothing to further the conversation and makes it difficult to put aside personal animosity and listen with an open mind. I think from a marketing standpoint attacking people's character and name-calling is detrimental to their cause.”
Pyska: “This was raised as a concern during my first campaign going back to 2019, and I have been listening to heartfelt stories from all sides ever since. There are very powerful feelings on both sides, and there are also folks who feel conflicted about where they stand, given the atrocities committed in the past and the deep pride they feel for their hometown. There are also a lot of people just learning about it, so I spend time explaining the process and how they will be able to participate to share their perspectives and learn how this will affect them.”
Have you been contacted directly by the main proponent and opponent groups?
Bridges: “I have been in contact with many people that want to change the name. But finding anyone that’s willing to stand up as a group and say they want to change the name of Kelseyville seems to be impossible. There’s a website, Citizens for Healing, but who they are is a mystery to us so far.”
Pyska: “Yes, leadership from both groups has reached out to ask for my support. I listened respectfully, and I firmly stated my position of neutrality to both sides.”
Do you think the process for the change — being handled by a federal agency — is the right one?
Bridges: “I think the process has to be handled at the federal level because it affects so many things that are outside of our county. But I think the decision should be made by those that are residents of Kelseyville and no one else.”
Pyska: “With an issue this complicated, I am not sure there is a right way. The former County Counsel, before retiring, did extensive research to determine this is the procedure to be followed. Locally we do not have authority over federal processes.”
DISTRICT 1: Bren Boyd, John Hess, Sean Millerick and Helen Owen
Do you support the name change? Why or why not?
Boyd: “I do not support the name change as people from all over the Bay Area know that town’s name and making small businesses change logos and all that goes with it puts an unfair burden on small businesses that struggle as it is. We need to protect and promote small businesses, not make it harder on them. Although I know the history and understand it I just don’t believe in any name changes or the tearing down of statues and the like.”
Hess: “As a Planning Commissioner, I have always maintained a policy of strict neutrality until planning staff reports and other processes are complete, and the public has had the opportunity to weigh in on the record. As this issue may come before a new Board of Supervisors in 2025, I will maintain a neutral position now so as not to pre-judge the issue before the federal process is complete and the public has had the opportunity to comment on the record.”
Millerick: “Personally, I do not support the name change. While I am aware of the historical injustices that are attributed to the Kelsey's, I think that it is important to have those important-often-uncomfortable conversations and not to attempt to erase history. The folks in our rural communities are a lot smarter than urban-ites give them credit for, and I know that we are strong enough to face our history honestly without trying to sweep the past under the rug.”
Owen: “As of this moment I am opposed to the change. I have never been one for changing our history, whether it be good or bad our history needs to be preserved. In saying that and with further dialogue on this issue, my mind could possibly be changed.”
During the course of the campaign so far, have you heard from community members about it and, if so, what stands out?
Boyd: “The people I have spoken with do NOT want the name change.”
Hess: “I have not.”
Millerick: “I have heard about this issue from many community members, both in Kelseyville and throughout the county. The main thing that stands out is that many of our people are tired of leaders trying to alter, rebrand, and change who we are; often at great inconvenience and expense to our residents and businesses. Too often politicians are insulated from the real world, the people they represent, and the consequences of their actions or their inaction.”
Owen: “On Friday, Feb. 29, I had the honor of appearing at our Lake County Tribals first ever candidates forum held at Robinsons Rancheria Resort and Casino. Thank you KnoQoti Native Health for the invite. I had expressed my thoughts on this very issue and believe this can be a great opportunity to flip the current script into something much larger and by far more positive for our tribes, county and history. By exposing the history further, I would love to see an interactive state or federal park and museum put in. I do not believe that our native history is being elevated here in California as it should be. I would hate to miss the opportunity to make lemonade for the lemons, which is something that I believe can be done. This could be a win-win issue!”
Have you been contacted directly by the main proponent and opponent groups?
Boyd: “I have not been contacted by either group but would encourage them to pitch their case.”
Hess: “I have not.”
Millerick: “I have not had any direct contact with either group involved, as my focus is primarily District 1 and county wide issues, and I trust that at the end of the day, the people will determine which path they wish to choose. That being said, we hire a supervisor, a representative, not to be a mouthpiece or a mimeograph. Leadership responsibilities include making tough calls, holding to your principles, and taking a stand. You will never please everyone, and this isn't a popularity contest. If you chase the trends and popularity, you will fail to serve your community well.”
Owen: Did not give a response.
Do you think the process for the change — being handled by a federal agency — is the right one?
Boyd: “I don’t believe the feds should be involved in any small municipality unless they are funding grants for roads and more law enforcement and fire protection etc.”
Hess: “Yes.”
Millerick: “What's in a name? A whole lot of work, forms, steps, and processes at the federal, state, county, and district levels. I believe it would be a failure of leadership with the county supervisors if they refused to do their job, refused to speak on behalf of the people of our whole county, and refused to provide requested input to the feds. While it is a federal process, the feds do want input from the county and have made that pretty clear. It will take some backbone to speak up, but we should expect more out of our leadership. The process is neither right or wrong, the wrong would be if our leaders were too scared of special interests to speak up on behalf of the people they represent.”
Owen: Did not give a response.
DISTRICT 4: Scott Barnett, Brad Rasmussen, Chris Read, Laura McAndrews Sammel,
Do you support the name change? Why or why not?
Barnett: “As I've said during my campaign, before voting on this, or any other issue, I would want input from the people in my district on how they would want me to vote. As a Supervisor, it would be my responsibility to represent their voices, and I welcome everyone's opinion before I make any decisions. As for my personal opinion, I have already stated during the Lake County Farm Bureau debate that I am against the name change. I do not want to be the person to rewrite history or enable history to be forgotten. “
Rasmussen: “As a community member the name change is not something I would have proposed due to concerns about it putting a divide in our community. The Board of Supervisors will be tasked with making a recommendation regarding the name change, and as your supervisor I will listen to everyone’s concerns and all the facts before a recommendation can be made. Public input is most important in this process.”
Read: “I don’t think that changing the name of Kelseyville is a priority for the county. There are so many more things that energy could be put towards. For example I hear more about changing the name of Kelseyville which is not tangible, but never hear anyone but myself talking about saving Lake Pillsbury. Changing the name of Kelseyville costs lots of money and keeping Lake Pillsbury keeps $750,000 in property tax money. You can’t erase history. It also seems to be an American issue where a name shouldn’t be an issue. Look at Italy, where Alessandra Mussolini, a direct descendent of the fascist Benito Mussolini, just got in office. They have no issue with the Mussolini name, she just got elected.”
Sammel: “If asked for a formal recommendation, I will vote with and for the people of Lake County District 4. Should I become Supervisor, I work for them. It's not my job to push my own personal agenda or beliefs on voters.”
During the course of the campaign so far, have you heard from community members about it and, if so, what stands out?
Barnett: “I've had at least 10 to 15 people reach out to me about it, and all of them are against the name change.”
Rasmussen: “I have heard from a few people regarding this issue. What stands out from these contacts are concerns about costs, confusion and the process causing negativity and placing a divide in our community which is not beneficial for the whole community.”
Read: “Most of the talk I have heard about the name change is online or at other districts candidate forums.”
Sammel: “I have heard from community members directly, I've been following social media, and I’ve attended Candidate Forums for all of the Districts. What’s standing out to me is this: we need a great deal of empathy to open our hearts and minds to each other. The minute we choose a side is the minute that we stop listening, so I will encourage everyone to take a breath and listen. It's the only way we can come together as a community. We need to start this conversation by acknowledging our common beliefs and values. Start with what connects us. This is how healthy communication works. Do we want a Lake County of antagonism and hostility? Or do we want a Lake County that has healthy conflict that results in discussion and resolution? That is the choice that we need to make at this point in time.”
Have you been contacted directly by the main proponent and opponent groups?
Barnett: “I have not been contacted by any groups.”
Rasmussen: “I have not been contacted directly by the proponent group, but I have been contacted by a couple of people who are with the opponent group.”
Read: “I have not been contacted directly except by some online activity I commented on where some people kind of trolled me and put words in my mouth I didn’t say.”
Sammel: “I have not been directly contacted by any of the proponents or opponents of this issue. I see my role here as someone who can broker conversations and bring our community together.”
Do you think the process for the change — being handled by a federal agency — is the right one?
Barnett: “While I believe this is a local issue and should be decided locally, it must go through the existing process which places it in the hands of the BGN.”
Rasmussen: “Although I understand why the federal government has a role and why it may be assigned to a board under the United States Geological Survey (USGS), I feel the decisions should be made by the people of the community. The USGS Board on Geographic Names (BGN) states that they make decisions only after receiving recommendations from local and county governments, tribal governments, the State Names Authority, appropriate land management agencies and the public. Recommendations from local organizations like historical societies and conservation groups are welcomed. Based on this. The Lake County Board of Supervisors is going to need to be involved and make a recommendation. Any recommendation should be based on listening to the voice of the people of our community.”
Read: “The issue should be handled by Lake County. It isn’t a federal issue, it is a local issue.”
Sammel: “I'm not sure, but that's where it is now so we need to deal with it constructively. I am a pragmatic person. Pragmatism is to deal with facts and apply constructive solutions for everyone involved. I am in favor of local control on issues of this nature when approached by any state or federal agency that, again, needs to be pushed to the constituents of the District.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The National Weather Service has placed all of Lake County under a winter storm warning ahead of a strong winter storm system’s arrival on Friday.
The warning will remain in effect until 10 a.m. Sunday.
Rain fell across Lake County on Thursday evening and much of the day on Friday.
Rainfall totals in inches for the 48-hour period ending at 2 a.m. Saturday are as follows:
The updated forecast expected rain and snow showers overnight along with high winds.
Those conditions are expected to continue throughout the day on Saturday and into Saturday night, with chances of more rain and show early Sunday before giving way mostly to rain and more high winds for the rest of the day and night.
Rain is forecast to continue on Monday and through midweek, when a break in the rain is expected.
The latest storm system is expected to push the level of Clear Lake up again. It peaked last week at nearly 8.5 feet Rumsey, the special measure for the lake, but was down to just above 8 feet Rumsey by early Saturday. The 8 foot Rumsey measure put the lake in “monitor” or “action” stage, at which point the speed limit close to the shore on the lake is temporarily reduced.
In other weather news, millions of Americans just experienced the warmest meteorological winter on record, according to preliminary data collected by AccuWeather meteorologists.
Every state in the continental U.S. had temperatures warmer than the historical average this winter, unlike last winter when the western U.S. was colder than the historical average, AccuWeather reported.
AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said our warming climate also contributed to the unusually mild conditions for much of the country this winter.
“This existing trend, resulting from a warming atmosphere driven by climate change, and other factors, was likely amplified this winter as a result of the additional warmth imparted in the atmosphere by the El Nino,” said Porter. “The largest increases in average temperature, as compared to long-term historical averages, have been across the northern part of the United States, especially during the winter months.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The East Region Town Hall, or ERTH, will meet on Wednesday, March 6.
The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. at the Moose Lodge, located at 15900 Moose Lodge Lane in Clearlake Oaks.
The meeting will be available via Zoom. The meeting ID is 830 2978 1573, pass code is 503006.
Agenda items include an update on the Clearlake Oaks Consolidated Lighting District update, crosswalk safety at East Lake School and Highway 20, and general plan and Shoreline Area Plan update.
Other agenda items include updates on Spring Valley, commercial cannabis and the Cannabis Ordinance Task Force, and reports from Northshore Fire Protection District Chief Mike Ciancio and Supervisor EJ Crandell.
ERTH’s next meeting will take place on April 3.
ERTH’s members are Denise Loustalot, Jim Burton, Tony Morris and Pamela Kicenski.
For more information visit the group’s Facebook page.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has a very full kennel with dogs awaiting new homes.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Australian shepherd, border collie, boxer, Catahoula leopard dog, Doberman pinscher, German shepherd, hound, Labrador retriever, mastiff, Papillon, pit bull, Queensland heeler, Rottweiler, shepherd and terrier.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
Those dogs and the others shown on this page at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
The shelter is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Nearly 1 in 12 newborns in the United States in 2020 – or about 300,000 infants – were exposed to alcohol, opioids, marijuana or cocaine before they were born. Exposure to these substances puts these newborns at a higher risk for premature birth, low birth weight and a variety of physical and mental disabilities.
These substances can have direct and indirect consequences on fetal development. By crossing the placental barrier directly, they can cause abnormal development. And by affecting the mother’s organs, they can reduce blood flow to the placenta and damage the health of the growing fetus.
Considerable sociodemographic and geographic disparities exist in the U.S. regarding the rates of prenatal substance exposure. This includes in West Virginia, where I live, a rural Appalachian state struggling with extraordinary rates of substance use and an opioid crisis.
As an epidemiologist, I study the relationship between substance use during pregnancy and infant health outcomes. I am a member of the Project WATCH team, which is a long-standing, state-mandated surveillance and referral system in West Virginia funded by the West Virginia Department of Health. The surveillance system expanded in 2020 to include substance exposure data from all births in the state.
Staggering numbers
Our research work showed that between 2020 and 2022, prenatal substance exposure in West Virginia was nearly 50% higher, at 124 per 1,000 births, than the national rate of 80 per 1,000 births. This means that nearly 1 in 8 infants born in the state had exposure to substances during pregnancy.
We found that the rate of prenatal cannabis exposure in West Virginia was 80 per 1,000 births, similar to the national rate. However, the rates of opioid exposure, 44 per 1,000 births, and stimulant exposure, 21 per 1,000 births, during pregnancy were nearly 10 times higher than national rates. Additionally, 1 in 5 women in the study smoked, and 64% of the infants exposed to substances were also exposed to smoking during pregnancy.
There are many reasons why the numbers in West Virginia are staggering. Economic challenges, including poverty, low education and limited job opportunities, contribute to chronic stress, a known risk factor for substance use. Moreover, nearly half the population lives in rural areas with a limited number of hospitals and clinics. The geographic isolation limits access to health care and substance use treatment services. Finally, stigma and judgment within close-knit rural communities may discourage these mothers from seeking help.
Substance exposure and infant outcomes
Our earlier work demonstrated that alcohol consumption during pregnancy was associated with preterm birth, which is when a baby is born before the 37th week of pregnancy, and low birth weight, defined as babies born weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces (2,500 grams).
Our more recent study has shown that prenatal opioid exposure is also associated with low birth weight, while stimulant exposure was associated with preterm birth.
Stimulants include cocaine, methamphetamines, ecstasy and prescription stimulants such as those used for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Illicit or misuse of prescription stimulants have increased among pregnant women over the past decade.
While many national and statewide efforts have focused their attention on addressing the opioid crisis, the prevalence of prenatal stimulant use remains a growing and underrecognized epidemic in the U.S.
After alcohol, cannabis is the most common psychoactive substance used during pregnancy and its rate is increasing. This trend in cannabis use may be due to the increasing legality for medicinal or recreational purposes and the social acceptability that comes with it.
In addition, many people wrongly assume that cannabis is relatively safe and helps manage pregnancy-related conditions such as morning sickness, nausea, vomiting, weight gain and sleep difficulty.
In addition, using multiple substances during pregnancy poses a higher risk to infants than using a single substance. We found that compared to no substance exposure during pregnancy, the risk of low birth weight was twice with opioids alone, four times with concurrent exposure to opioids and stimulants, and almost six times with concurrent exposure to opioids, stimulants and cannabis.
Another adverse outcome that is associated with prenatal substance exposure, primarily to opioids, is a set of withdrawal symptoms experienced by the newborn known as neonatal abstinence syndrome. Symptoms include irritability, feeding difficulties, tremors and respiratory issues. The syndrome requires specialized care and attention in neonatal units and a prolonged stay in the hospital.
Alongside the rising prevalence of opioid use in pregnancy, a fivefold increase in incidence of infants with this condition has been documented over the past two decades. The highest rate has been observed in West Virginia, at 53 per 1,000 births. Other states with high rates include Maine, Vermont, Delaware and Kentucky, which are between three and four times the national average of 7.3 per 1,000 births.
Substance exposure in the womb and long-term outcomes
Research on long-term outcomes of infants exposed to substances in the womb is still evolving. Limited studies have shown an association between neonatal abstinence syndrome and long-term neurodevelopmental consequences that may develop as early as 6 months old and persist into adolescence. These include delays in learning and language skills, physical growth and motor skills, as well as difficulty in regulating behavior and emotions.
However, research on the long-term effects of prenatal alcohol exposure is well established. A broad range of deficits are referred to as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. These include growth deficiency, developmental delay, craniofacial malformations, intellectual disabilities, behavior issues and emotional well-being. A recent study of first graders in the U.S. estimated that the prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders range from 1% to 5%, which means up to 1 in 20 school-age children may have this disorder.
With the changing landscape of substance use in the U.S., more research is needed to understand and establish the association between the various emerging types and forms of substance exposures and their lasting effects. But the findings are difficult to discern because of the influence of other environmental factors, preexisting medical conditions and social determinants of health.
Efforts to reduce harms
As a maternal and child health epidemiologist, I am fortunate to be part of the Project WATCH team that works closely with health care providers and policymakers.
As high-risk infants are identified through this program, its referral system notifies pediatricians of substance exposure and connects these families to early intervention services and home visitation programs.
These services include developmental testing, interventions appropriate to the child’s needs and case management during the first few years of life. The data also informs state-level strategies and initiatives to address the substance use crisis for this vulnerable population.
It’s been a warm day, maybe even a little humid, and the tall clouds in the distance remind you of cauliflower. You hear a sharp crack, like the sound of a batter hitting a home run, or a low rumble reminiscent of a truck driving down the highway. A distant thunderstorm, alive with lightning, is making itself known.
Each giant spark of electricity travels through the atmosphere at 200,000 miles per hour. It is hotter than the surface of the sun and delivers thousands of times more electricity than the power outlet that charges your smartphone. That’s why lightning is so dangerous.
Yet, estimates of U.S. lightning strikes have varied widely, from about 25 million a year, a number meteorologists have cited since the 1990s, to 40 million a year, reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That complicates lightning safety and protection efforts.
I’m a meteorologist whose research focuses on understanding lightning behavior. In a new study, my colleagues and I used six years of data from a national lightning detection network that we believe has become precise enough to offer a more accurate picture of lightning strikes across the U.S. That knowledge is essential for improving forecasts and damage prevention.
How much lightning strikes the US
To get a clearer picture of how often lightning strikes, it helps to define what a lightning strike is.
Imagine looking out a window at a thunderstorm with cloud-to-ground lightning nearby. The lightning appears to flicker.
A lightning flash is all the cloud-to-ground lightning that occurs within 1 second and a 6-mile radius. Each flicker is a lightning stroke. Each stroke can hit one or more ground strike points, and there can be multiple strokes in the same channel.
Lightning is a large electrical discharge trying to dissipate the electricity in a cloud, so if there is a lot of electricity built up, there can be a lot of lightning to get rid of it all.
The basic ingredients for thunderstorms are warm and moist air near the ground with cooler, drier air above it and a way to lift the warm moist air. Anywhere those ingredients are present, lightning can occur.
This happens most frequently near the Gulf Coast, where the sea breeze helps trigger thunderstorms most days in the summer. Florida in particular is a hot spot for cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area alone had over 120,000 lightning strokes in 2023.
The Central and Southern U.S. aren’t quite as lightning prone, but they tend to have more thunderstorms and lightning strikes than the North and West of the country, though lightning in the West can be especially destructive when it sparks wildfires.
The cool waters of the Pacific Ocean, meanwhile, tend to mean few thunderstorms along the West Coast.
Counting lightning strikes
To be able to count how much lightning is hitting the ground and where it is doing so, you have to be able to detect it. Luckily, cloud-to-ground lightning is fairly easy to detect – in fact, you may have done it.
When lightning flashes, it acts like a giant radio antenna that sends electromagnetic waves – radio waves – around the world at the speed of light. If you have an AM radio station on during a thunderstorm, you may hear a lot of static.
The National Lightning Detection Network uses strategically placed antennas to listen for these radio waves produced by lightning. It’s now able to locate at least 97% of the cloud-to-ground lightning that occurs across the U.S.
The number of lightning strikes varies year to year depending on the prevailing weather patterns during the spring and summer months, when lightning is most common. There isn’t enough accurate U.S. data yet to say whether there is a trend toward more or less lightning. However, changes in lightning frequency and location can be an indicator of climate change affecting storms and precipitation, which is why the World Meteorological Organization designated lightning as an “essential climate variable.”
Better data can boost safety
Meteorologists and emergency management teams can use this new data and our analysis to better understand how lightning typically affects their regions. That can help them better forecast risks and prepare the public for thunderstorm hazards. Engineers are also using these results to create better lightning protection standards to keep people and property safe.
Lightning strikes are still unpredictable. So, to stay safe, remember: When thunder roars, go indoors.
Brain fog is a colloquial term that describes a state of mental sluggishness or lack of clarity and haziness that makes it difficult to concentrate, remember things and think clearly.
Fast-forward four years and there is now abundant evidence that being infected with SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – can affect brain health in many ways.
In addition to brain fog, COVID-19 can lead to an array of problems, including headaches, seizure disorders, strokes, sleep problems, and tingling and paralysis of the nerves, as well as several mental health disorders.
A large and growing body of evidence amassed throughout the pandemic details the many ways that COVID-19 leaves an indelible mark on the brain. But the specific pathways by which the virus does so are still being elucidated, and curative treatments are nonexistent.
Severe COVID-19 that requires hospitalization or intensive care may result in cognitive deficits and other brain damage that are equivalent to 20 years of aging.
Laboratory experiments in human and mouse brain organoids designed to emulate changes in the human brain showed that SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers the fusion of brain cells. This effectively short-circuits brain electrical activity and compromises function.
Autopsy studies of people who had severe COVID-19 but died months later from other causes showed that the virus was still present in brain tissue. This provides evidence that contrary to its name, SARS-CoV-2 is not only a respiratory virus, but it can also enter the brain in some individuals. But whether the persistence of the virus in brain tissue is driving some of the brain problems seen in people who have had COVID-19 is not yet clear.
Studies show that even when the virus is mild and exclusively confined to the lungs, it can still provoke inflammation in the brain and impair brain cells’ ability to regenerate.
COVID-19 can also disrupt the blood brain barrier, the shield that protects the nervous system – which is the control and command center of our bodies – making it “leaky.” Studies using imaging to assess the brains of people hospitalized with COVID-19 showed disrupted or leaky blood brain barriers in those who experienced brain fog.
A large preliminary analysis pooling together data from 11 studies encompassing almost 1 million people with COVID-19 and more than 6 million uninfected individuals showed that COVID-19 increased the risk of development of new-onset dementia in people older than 60 years of age.
Drops in IQ
Most recently, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine assessed cognitive abilities such as memory, planning and spatial reasoning in nearly 113,000 people who had previously had COVID-19. The researchers found that those who had been infected had significant deficits in memory and executive task performance.
This decline was evident among those infected in the early phase of the pandemic and those infected when the delta and omicron variants were dominant. These findings show that the risk of cognitive decline did not abate as the pandemic virus evolved from the ancestral strain to omicron.
In the same study, those who had mild and resolved COVID-19 showed cognitive decline equivalent to a three-point loss of IQ. In comparison, those with unresolved persistent symptoms, such as people with persistent shortness of breath or fatigue, had a six-point loss in IQ. Those who had been admitted to the intensive care unit for COVID-19 had a nine-point loss in IQ. Reinfection with the virus contributed an additional two-point loss in IQ, as compared with no reinfection.
Generally the average IQ is about 100. An IQ above 130 indicates a highly gifted individual, while an IQ below 70 generally indicates a level of intellectual disability that may require significant societal support.
To put the finding of the New England Journal of Medicine study into perspective, I estimate that a three-point downward shift in IQ would increase the number of U.S. adults with an IQ less than 70 from 4.7 million to 7.5 million – an increase of 2.8 million adults with a level of cognitive impairment that requires significant societal support.
Another study in the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine involved more than 100,000 Norwegians between March 2020 and April 2023. It documented worse memory function at several time points up to 36 months following a positive SARS-CoV-2 test.
Parsing the implications
Taken together, these studies show that COVID-19 poses a serious risk to brain health, even in mild cases, and the effects are now being revealed at the population level.
A recent analysis of the U.S. Current Population Survey showed that after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional 1 million working-age Americans reported having “serious difficulty” remembering, concentrating or making decisions than at any time in the preceding 15 years. Most disconcertingly, this was mostly driven by younger adults between the ages of 18 to 44.
Looking ahead, it will be critical to identify who is most at risk. A better understanding is also needed of how these trends might affect the educational attainment of children and young adults and the economic productivity of working-age adults. And the extent to which these shifts will influence the epidemiology of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is also not clear.
The growing body of research now confirms that COVID-19 should be considered a virus with a significant impact on the brain. The implications are far-reaching, from individuals experiencing cognitive struggles to the potential impact on populations and the economy.
Lifting the fog on the true causes behind these cognitive impairments, including brain fog, will require years if not decades of concerted efforts by researchers across the globe. And unfortunately, nearly everyone is a test case in this unprecedented global undertaking.
Education saves lives regardless of age, sex, location, and social and demographic backgrounds. That’s according to the latest and largest study of its kind published today in The Lancet Public Health.
Researchers have known that those who reach higher levels of schooling live longer than others, but they didn’t know to what extent until now.
What they found was that the risk of death drops by two percent with every additional year of education.
That means those who completed six years of primary school had a lower risk of death by an average of 13 percent. After graduating from secondary school, the risk of dying was cut by nearly 25 percent and 18 years of education lowered the risk by 34 percent.
Researchers also compared the effects of education to other risk factors such as eating a healthy diet, smoking, and drinking too much alcohol, and they found the health outcome to be similar.
For example, the benefit of 18 years of education can be compared to that of eating the ideal amount of vegetables, as opposed to not eating vegetables at all.
Not going to school at all is as bad for you as drinking five or more alcoholic drinks per day or smoking ten cigarettes a day for 10 years.
“Education is important in its own right, not just for its benefits on health, but now being able to quantify the magnitude of this benefit is a significant development,” said Dr. Terje Andreas Eikemo, co-author and head of Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, or NTNU.
While the benefits of education are greatest for young people, those older than 50 and even 70 years still benefit from the protective effects of education.
Researchers found no significant difference in the effects of education between countries that have reached different stages of development. This means that more years of education is just as effective in rich countries as in poor countries.
“We need to increase social investments to enable access to better and more education around the globe to stop the persistent inequalities that are costing lives,” said Mirza Balaj, co-lead author and postdoctoral fellow at NTNU’s Department of Sociology and Political Science. “More education leads to better employment and higher income, better access to healthcare, and helps us take care of our own health. Highly educated people also tend to develop a larger set of social and psychological resources that contribute to their health and the length of their lives.”
“Closing the education gap means closing the mortality gap, and we need to interrupt the cycle of poverty and preventable deaths with the help of international commitment,” said Claire Henson, co-lead author and researcher at Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME, at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine. “In order to reduce inequalities in mortality, it’s important to invest in areas that promote people’s opportunities to get an education. This can have a positive effect on population health in all countries.”
The study identified data from 59 countries and included over 10,000 data points collected from over 600 published articles. Most of the studies reviewed for this study were from high-income settings, highlighting the need for more research in low- and middle-income countries, particularly from sub-Saharan and north Africa where data are scarce.
“Our focus now should be on regions of the world where we know access to schooling is low, and where there is also limited research on education as a determinant of health,” said Dr. Emmanuela Gakidou, co-author and professor at IHME.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County got a coating of snow on Saturday as a major storm system moved through the region.
The National Weather Service had predicted the snowfall, which fell throughout the afternoon.
The Cobb area appeared to have reported snow first, but shortly afterward it was falling across the rest of the county.
On the Northshore, there was an initial period of snowfall, followed by a break before heavier snow fell. That was followed by an opening in the clouds and some blue sky.
Throughout the afternoon and early evening, there were reports of vehicles going off roads, getting stuck in the snow or being involved in collisions as a result of the weather conditions.
The National Weather Service is predicting chances for more rain and snow into Sunday morning, before conditions give way to rain the rest of the day and night.
More rain is expected Monday through Wednesday, along with winds of more than 20 miles per hour.
Sunny conditions are forecast on Thursday and Friday, with chances of rain again in the forecast on Saturday.
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.
Researchers have found water vapor in the disc around a young star exactly where planets may be forming.
Water is a key ingredient for life on Earth, and is also thought to play a significant role in planet formation.
Yet, until now, we had never been able to map how water is distributed in a stable, cool disc — the type of disc that offers the most favorable conditions for planets to form around stars.
The new findings were made possible thanks to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, in which the European Southern Observatory is a partner.
“I had never imagined that we could capture an image of oceans of water vapor in the same region where a planet is likely forming,” said Stefano Facchini, an astronomer at the University of Milan, Italy, who led the study published today in Nature Astronomy. The observations reveal at least three times as much water as in all of Earth’s oceans in the inner disc of the young Sun-like star HL Tauri, located 450 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Taurus.
“It is truly remarkable that we can not only detect but also capture detailed images and spatially resolve water vapor at a distance of 450 light-years from us,” added co-author Leonardo Testi, an astronomer at the University of Bologna, Italy.
The “spatially resolved” observations with ALMA allow astronomers to determine the distribution of water in different regions of the disc.
“Taking part in such an important discovery in the iconic HL Tauri disc was beyond what I had ever expected for my first research experience in astronomy,” said Mathieu Vander Donckt from the University of Liège, Belgium, who was a master’s student when he participated in the research.
A significant amount of water was found in the region where a known gap in the HL Tauri disc exists. Ring-shaped gaps are carved out in gas- and dust-rich discs by orbiting young planet-like bodies as they gather up material and grow.
“Our recent images reveal a substantial quantity of water vapor at a range of distances from the star that include a gap where a planet could potentially be forming at the present time,” said Facchini. This suggests that this water vapor could affect the chemical composition of planets forming in those regions.
Observing water with a ground-based telescope is no mean feat as the abundant water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere degrades the astronomical signals.
ALMA, operated by European Southern Observatory together with its international partners, is an array of telescopes in the Chilean Atacama Desert at about 5,000 meters elevation that was built in a high and dry environment specifically to minimize this degradation, providing exceptional observing conditions.
“To date, ALMA is the only facility able to spatially resolve water in a cool planet-forming disc,” said co-author Wouter Vlemmings, a professor at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.
“It is truly exciting to directly witness, in a picture, water molecules being released from icy dust particles,” said Elizabeth Humphreys, an astronomer at European Southern Observatory who also participated in the study.
The dust grains that make up a disc are the seeds of planet formation, colliding and clumping into ever larger bodies orbiting the star. Astronomers believe that where it is cold enough for water to freeze onto dust particles, things stick together more efficiently — an ideal spot for planet formation.
“Our results show how the presence of water may influence the development of a planetary system, just like it did some 4.5 billion years ago in our own Solar System,” Facchini added.
With upgrades happening at ALMA and the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope, or ELT, coming online within the decade, planet formation and the role water plays in it will become clearer than ever.
In particular METIS, the Mid-infrared ELT Imager and Spectrograph, will give astronomers unrivaled views of the inner regions of planet-forming disks, where planets like Earth form.
California has reached another milestone in its efforts to expand the use of renewable technologies.
The state has surpassed 100,000 public and shared private electric vehicle chargers installed statewide, just weeks after unprecedented funding was approved to build a bigger, better network of charging and refueling infrastructure for zero-emission cars, trucks and buses — reported to be the most extensive network in the nation.
This is on top of more than 500,000 at-home chargers that Californians have installed for personal use.
Sales of zero-emission vehicles, or ZEV, have skyrocketed more than 1,000% in the last decade.
One in every four new cars sold last year in California were zero-emission. Last year, the state also surpassed its goal of selling 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles and its goal to install 10,000 fast chargers for electric vehicles — both ahead of schedule.
“No other state in the nation is doing as much as California to make our tailpipe-free future a reality,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “With more zero-emission vehicles sold last year than ever before and more than 100,000 public chargers installed, California dominates in this space.”
Building a bigger, better network
This milestone follows approval of a $1.9 billion investment plan that accelerates progress on the state’s electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling goals.
The plan details how the money will be spent with at least 50% dedicated to benefiting communities disproportionately impacted by pollution.
With this funding, the state expects to reach its goal of 250,000 public chargers in the next few years.
Also on Friday, Caltrans broke ground for a $450,000 Clean California transit project in Blythe that will transform a litter-strewn public space into a transportation hub that features a solar-powered EV charging station, among other things.
And last week, California celebrated the grand opening of a truck charging depot and 50 battery electric trucks, supported by $27 million in state funding.
The funding is part of the $48 billion dollar California Climate Commitment, which includes more than $10 billion for ZEVs and ZEV infrastructure.
The state has also received billions from the Biden-Harris Administration for clean transportation.
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to provide a dedicated source of funding for ZEV infrastructure through 2035.
On Thursday, Tesla announced that it opened its Supercharger network to non-Teslas for the first time, beginning with Ford, and will be opening to more in the coming months. This significantly expands public access to fast, reliable chargers in the state.
To improve the EV charging experience, the California Energy Commission (CEC) is developing first-in-the-world state regulations for charger reliability and reporting.
A stringent performance standard will apply to all new publicly funded infrastructure and the chargers will be required to disclose operational data to help drivers make more informed choices.
California’s ZEV record
Since the governor’s executive order in 2020 calling for a rule to require all new car sales to be zero-emission by 2035, ZEV sales have risen dramatically.
• 25% of all new cars sold in California last year were ZEVs, according to the California Energy Commission (CEC). • 1,846,874 total ZEV sales to date. • 34% of new ZEVs sold in the U.S. are sold in California, according to the Veloz EV Market Report. • If California were a country, we’d rank 4th in EV sales behind China, the U.S. and Germany. • Thousands of dollars in grants and rebates available for low-income Californians; learn more at www.ClimateAction.ca.gov.