LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control most often has cats and dogs available to new homes, but they now have three other critters in need of new families.
This week there is a mouse, a hamster and a horse waiting in the agency’s care.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
Young male mouse
This young male mouse has brown hair, pink ears and a pink nose.
He is in kennel No. A19, ID No. LCAC-A-1212.
Male hamster
This 1-year-old male hamster has a brown and white coat.,
He is in kennel No. A10, ID No. LCAC-A-1287.
Male quarter horse
This 18-year-old male quarter horse has a red coat and white blaze.
He is in upper pen No. 1, ID No. LCAC-A-2410.
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.
Before COVID-19, there was tuberculosis. Twentieth century British physician Thomas McKeown controversially proposed that the sharp declines in infectious disease death rates in the late 1900s were due to improved economic and social conditions – not medical and public health measures like antibiotics and improved sanitation.
His theory was later partly discredited. But the central question behind it – whether medical interventions or social factors make the biggest impact on infectious diseases – remains relevant in the current pandemic.
So which are more successful at driving down rates of disease and death – social behaviors or medical technologies?
As an infectious disease and social epidemiologist, I have been particularly interested in how new medical technologies affect existing health disparities. I believe that understanding the interplay between behavior and technology will be key to surviving the pandemic and emerging as a stronger society.
Do technologies help or make things worse?
Biomedicine has clearly played a critical role in mitigating COVID-19. Less than a year after discovering the virus that causes COVID-19, researchers were able to develop multiple vaccines that are highly effective in preventing severe infection and transmission from most variants. They’re also likely to reduce the risk of long COVID-19, the ongoing symptoms that can persist for months after initial recovery. COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to have saved almost 140,000 lives in the U.S. in the first five months of 2021.
Researchers have also developed and scaled up a variety of innovative diagnostic technologies. These range from using PCR tests to predict the trajectory of the pandemic to implementing blood tests that can simultaneously measure antibody levels against COVID-19 and other pathogens for quicker diagnosis.
Collaboration across both public and private sectors has also been fairly unprecedented. Large-scale government funding has aided these efforts. The U.S. National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics, or RADx, initiative, for example, has worked to contain outbreaks in schools by providing COVID-19 test kits across the country.
Social factors as drivers of health
Despite these technological advancements, the COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated long-standing health disparities. In 2020, Latino and Black people died from COVID-19 at a rate almost three times higher than white people.
Systemic structural and social inequities are some of the reasons behind these disparities in the U.S. For example, communities of color are disproportionately represented in essential occupations that are at the front lines of potential COVID-19 exposure. In addition, Black and Hispanic Americans have higher rates of obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes, known risk factors for severe COVID-19 complications. Children in communities of color also experienced the death of a primary caregiver at a rate up to 4.5 times higher than non-Hispanic white children.
Technologies intended to improve health care can themselves exacerbate health disparities. This results in a digital divide where certain populations continue to have poor health despite technological improvements. For example, the safety and convenience of remote videoconferencing is a privilege unavailable for those who need to go to public workspaces to access these technologies.
This divide extends to medical devices used in routine care. Oximeters that measure oxygen levels in the blood tend to produce inflated results for people with darker skin because they were calibrated in clinical trials with mostly white participants. This racial bias may result in denial of care if someone with darker skin gets a normal reading despite actually having dangerously low oxygen levels.
Health disparities persist despite technology
These inequities are often derived from ongoing historical biases and discrimination.
Difficulty parsing through health information is another factor. In addition to abundant misinformation about COVID-19, nearly 9 in 10 adults struggle with health literacy. A July 2020 study found that Black men were less likely to know about COVID-19 symptoms and how the virus spreads than white men. For some groups, limited English proficiency and cultural beliefs are barriers to health communication.
Even more critical is distrust in the medical system. Historical unethical experimentation and everyday racism have led to a lack of confidence in scientists and clinicians among vulnerable populations. Two-thirds of Black adults believe the government can rarely or never be trusted to look out for the interests of their community.
Conversely, that COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths disproportionately affect lower-income populations and communities of color reinforces the need for greater diversity in clinical research participants. Over 80% of participants in the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine trial identified as white. Having clinical trials that reflect the patients who will be treated ensures that the drug will work for all and encourages confidence among those communities.
The importance of social factors in health
While technology has greatly improved U.S. pandemic response, broader societal ills continue to impede the nation’s ability to control COVID-19.
The McKeown debate exposes a common misconception that improving health is a binary: a choice between improving social conditions or developing new technologies and medicines. But a growing body of research shows that social factors, or the conditions where people live, work and play, are key to health outcomes.
Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen hypothesized that increases in life expectancy in the 20th century occurred in periods marked by a strong emphasis on social sharing and public provision of health care. To me, it’s clear that the time has come to invest not just in new technologies and medical treatments, but also in communities.
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If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution, your plot for self-improvement probably kicks into gear sometime on Jan. 1, when the hangover wears off and the quest for the “new you” begins in earnest.
But if research on habit change is any indication, only about half of New Year’s resolutions are likely to make it out of January, much less last a lifetime.
It combines insights from psychologists and America’s first self-improvement guru, Benjamin Franklin, who pioneered a habit-change model that was way ahead of its time.
With the “old year” approach, perhaps you can sidestep the inevitable challenges that come with traditional New Year’s resolutions and achieve lasting, positive changes.
First, if you lack the confidence to invest in a full-fledged effort, failure to achieve the goal may become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Furthermore, if you maintain the change but perceive progress as unacceptably slow or inadequate, you may abandon the effort.
The old year’s resolution is different. Instead of waiting until January to start trying to change your life, you do a dry run before the New Year begins.
How does that work?
First, identify a change you want to make in your life. Do you want to eat better? Move more? Sock away more savings? Now, with Jan. 1 days away, start living according to your commitment. Track your progress. You might stumble now and then, but here’s the thing: You’re just practicing.
If you’ve ever rehearsed for a play or played scrimmages, you’ve used this kind of low-stakes practice to prepare for the real thing. Such experiences give us permission to fail.
Psychologist Carol Dweck and her colleagues have shown that when people see failure as the natural result of striving to achieve something challenging, they are more likely to persist to the goal.
However, if people perceive failure as a definitive sign that they are not capable – or even deserving – of success, failure can lead to surrender.
If you become convinced that you cannot achieve a goal, something called “learned helplessness” can result, which means you’re likely to abandon the endeavor altogether.
Many of us unintentionally set ourselves up for failure with our New Year’s resolutions. On Jan. 1, we jump right into a new lifestyle and, unsurprisingly, slip, fall, slip again – and eventually never get up.
The old year’s resolution takes the pressure off. It gives you permission to fail and even learn from failure. You can slowly build confidence, while failures become less of a big deal, since they’re all happening before the official “start date” of the resolution.
A gardener weeding one bed at a time
Long before he became one of America’s greatest success stories, Franklin devised a method that helped him overcome life’s inevitable failures – and could help you master your old year’s resolutions.
When he was still a young man, Franklin came up with what he called his “bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection.” With charming confidence, he set out to master 13 virtues, including temperance, frugality, chastity, industry, order and humility.
In a typically Franklinian move, he applied a little strategy to his efforts, concentrating on one virtue at a time. He likened this approach to that of a gardener who “does not attempt to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which would exceed his reach and his strength, but works on one of the beds at a time.”
In his autobiography, where he described this project in detail, Franklin did not say that he tied his project to a new year. He also did not give up when he slipped once – or more than once.
“I was surpris’d to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish,” Franklin wrote.
He made his progress visible in a book, where he recorded his slip-ups. One page – perhaps only a hypothetical example – shows 16 of them tied to “temperance” in a single week. (Instead of marking faults, we recommend recording successes in line with the work of habit expert B.J. Fogg, whose research suggests that celebrating victories helps to drive habit change.)
Repeated failures might discourage someone enough to abandon the endeavor altogether. But Franklin kept at it – for years. To Franklin, it was all about perspective: This effort to make himself better was a “project,” and projects take time.
Many years later, Franklin admitted that he never was perfect, despite his best efforts. His final assessment, however, is worth remembering:
“But, on the whole, tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it.”
Treating self-improvement as a project with no rigid time frame worked for Franklin. In fact, his scheme probably helped him succeed wildly in business, science and politics. Importantly, he also found immense personal satisfaction in the endeavor: “This little artifice, with the blessing of God,” he wrote, was the key to “the constant felicity of his life, down to his 79th year, in which this is written.”
You can enjoy the same success Franklin did if you start on your own schedule – now, during the old year – and treat self-improvement not as a goal with a starting date but as an ongoing “project.”
It might also help to remember Franklin’s note to himself on a virtue he called, coincidentally, “Resolution”: “Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The National Weather Service said rain and chances of more snow around Lake County are in the forecast through Wednesday.
Snow fell in parts of Lake County early Sunday, primarily dusting hilltops and higher elevations such as the Cobb area, where the snow was reported to have mostly melted off by nighttime.
The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook for much of Lake County and a winter weather advisory for the county’s northern area through 10 a.m. Monday due to the expectation of snow, particularly in higher elevations where it’s forecast to fall in heavy amounts.
The forecast also noted that snow could fall at elevations below 500 feet on Monday.
As a result, the morning commute for many drivers could be slippery and hazardous, the agency said.
Beyond Monday, the forecast calls for chances of rain and snow through Wednesday, along with more rain.
The National Weather Service said conditions are expected to clear from Wednesday night through Saturday night.
On Sunday, chances of showers are once again in the forecast.
Daytime temperatures through Sunday will range from the low to mid-40s, and will mostly be in the low 30, with the exception of Wednesday, when temperatures are forecast to fall into the high 20s.
Winds topping 10 miles per hour are forecast on Monday and Tuesday, and lighter winds of about 5 miles per hour are expected on Wednesday.
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. — What happens on New Year's Eve in other parts of the world? You might be surprised, as I was, at the unique and unusual ways that 2022 will be ushered in around the globe.
Scotland rings in the new year with a variety of fervent celebrations, including street dances, bonfires, and parading with fireballs swinging from sticks.
New Year’s Eve there is called Hogmanay and brings with it the custom of “first footing.” In this tradition, the first person to cross the threshold of one’s home in the new year brings either good or bad luck.
A dark-haired male is considered good luck, while light- or red-haired men are said to bring bad, perhaps because of the history of invasion by Vikings with such coloring. The first footer is supposed to bear traditional gifts of coal, salt, shortbread and whiskey.
Emphasis on New Year’s Eve celebrations in Scotland may stem from the banning of Christmas festivities in Britain during the 17th and 18th centuries.
In Spain, 12 grapes are eaten at midnight to bring luck and prosperity for each month of the new year. They must be eaten before the 12 chimes of the clock are complete, however, or their luck is forfeited.
The Swiss drop dollops of whipped cream or ice cream on the floor to symbolize the richness of the year to come.
Romanians don bear costumes or furs and dance to the pan flute to drive away evil spirits that may invade the new year.
In the Netherlands, balls of deep-fried dough called oliebollen are eaten. This stems from an ancient tradition related to the Germanic goddess Perchta, scarily known as the Belly Slitter. The story goes that her goal was to punish those who failed to celebrate the yuletide well by cutting open their stomachs and filling them with trash. The fat from oliebollen was believed to be protective, causing Perchta’s sword to slide off harmlessly.
The color white is considered good luck in Brazil and is worn on New Year’s Eve to ward off evil spirits and invite prosperity. White flowers and candles are thrown into the water as offerings to the sea goddess Yemoja with hopes for her blessings in the year to come.
Brazilians may also gather at the beach to jump over seven waves, a lucky number there. Lentils, which represent money and good fortune, are eaten on New Year’s Eve.
Wearing red underwear is traditional in Italy on New Year's Eve, particularly if one desires children, as red is symbolic of fertility there.
In Colombia, a walk around the block with an empty suitcase is done at midnight in hopes of bringing a year of travel and adventure.
Columbians also practice a form of fortune telling by placing three potatoes under their pillows, one unpeeled, one half peeled, and one fully peeled. At midnight they pull out the first one they touch, hoping for the unpeeled one, which represents abundance. The peeled potato portends financial problems and the half peeled one means that fortunes in the new year will be somewhere in the middle.
In the Philippines, round shapes signify wealth and prosperity, so people wear clothes with shapes such as polka dots. They also eat spherical fruits and fill their pockets with coins to attract wealth.
Strings of onions are hung on the outside of doors on New Year’s Eve in Greece as a symbol of rebirth. Onions have been long associated with growth and development in Greek culture.
Another food, the pomegranate, represented fertility, life, and abundance in ancient Greece, and the fruit continues to be associated with good fortune there in modern times. Just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, pomegranates are smashed against one’s front door. It is said that the number of pomegranate seeds scattered correlate to the amount of good luck one will have in the new year.
In Chile, New Year’s Eve masses are celebrated in cemeteries so deceased family members can join in the festivities.
Soba noodles are slurped on New Year’s Eve in Japan as their length represents a long and healthy life. Because the buckwheat plant used to make these noodles is so resilient, it’s thought that eating the noodles can also bring strength.
Buddhist temples in Japan ring their bells 108 times in honor of the new year — 107 times on New Year’s Eve and once again when the clock strikes midnight. This is meant to dispel the 108 evil human desires and cleanse the previous year of past sins. The practice is known as joyanokane.
Plates are smashed on the front stoops of friends and neighbors in Denmark to bring them good luck. It’s a point of pride to have a large amount of broken crockery in front of one’s home on New Year’s Day. Some say it’s a means of leaving aggression and ill will behind before the new year begins. Danes also jump off chairs to “leap” into the new year.
In Ecuador, straw effigies are made of famous figures — politicians, pop stars, and the like — and are carried through the streets. They’re then burned on bonfires to represent cleansing the world of evil and making room for good in the new year.
Bleigiessen, or lead pouring, is a fortune telling tradition at the center of German and Finnish New Year’s Eve festivities. A small bit of lead or tin is melted using flames from a candle and then dropped into cold water. The shape that forms is thought to predict events in the coming year. For example, a ring or heart represents a wedding, a pig abundance and a ship travel.
In Russia, wishes for the new year are written out and then burned with a candle. The ashes are put into one’s champagne glass to drink.
Puerto Ricans throw water out of windows to ward off evil spirits and sprinkle sugar outside for good luck.
In the Czech Republic, fortunes are predicted for those gathered at New Year’s Eve celebrations by cutting apples in half. If the core looks like a star, everyone there will soon meet again in happiness and health, but if it looks like a cross, someone will fall ill in the upcoming year.
Many meals are eaten on New Year’s Eve in Estonia, either seven, nine or 12 of them, as those numbers are considered lucky. It’s believed that this will bring good things in the year to come. It’s customary to leave some food on the plate at each meal for family members visiting in spirit form to enjoy.
Armenians knead wishes for good luck into every loaf of bread that’s made on the last day of the year.
In Turkey it’s considered good luck to spill salt on your doorstep when the clock strikes midnight to promote peace and prosperity through the new year.
In Ireland, single women sleep with mistletoe under their pillows on New Year’s Eve in hopes of finding true love – or perhaps a husband – in the coming year.
In the southeastern United States, Hoppin’ John, a favorite dish made with black-eyed peas and greens (usually collards), is eaten on New Year’s Day to bring luck and prosperity, and that’s the recipe I offer today. The greens, because of their color, symbolize money, and black-eyed peas have long represented good luck.
Below is a vegetarian version of the dish, but feel free to add a ham hock to the mix or fry some bacon in the pot first if a meaty version is desired. Either way, be sure to serve it with plenty of cornbread.
If you don’t have time to soak the beans overnight, put them in a pot with water to cover, bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let the beans sit for an hour. Drain the water and cook as directed below. You can also substitute frozen or canned black-eyed peas. Just add them to the pot once the vegetables have had a chance to cook a bit.
Enjoy! And best wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous 2022.
Hoppin’ John
2 cups dried black-eyed peas 6 cups water 1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped Several sprigs fresh thyme (tied with kitchen string for use as a bouquet garni or the chopped leaves of the sprigs) 2 bay leaves 1 medium green or red bell pepper, seeded and chopped 1 large bunch kale, stems removed and chopped 1 cup long-grain rice 2 medium cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon smoked paprika Leaves from 3 or 4 sprigs thyme leaves (1 tablespoon; may substitute 1 teaspoon dried thyme) Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste Tabasco sauce (optional)
Rinse black-eyed peas and soak in water to cover for six hours or overnight. Drain peas and transfer to a large soup pot.
Add water, onions, kale, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves. Simmer until beans are tender but still whole, about 45 minutes.
Add rice, green or red pepper, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
If desired, season with Tabasco sauce. Remove thyme (if in bouquet garni) and bay leaves before serving. Ladle into bowls and enjoy with cornbread.
Makes four servings.
Recipe by Esther Oertel.
Esther Oertel is a writer and passionate home cook from a family of chefs. She grew up in a restaurant, where she began creating recipes from a young age. She’s taught culinary classes in a variety of venues in Lake County and previously wrote “The Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News. Most recently she’s taught culinary classes at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa. She lives in Middletown, California.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched at 7:20 a.m. EST Saturday on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America.
A joint effort with European Space Agency, or ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency, the Webb observatory is NASA’s revolutionary flagship mission to seek the light from the first galaxies in the early universe and to explore our own solar system, as well as planets orbiting other stars, called exoplanets.
“The James Webb Space Telescope represents the ambition that NASA and our partners maintain to propel us forward into the future,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The promise of Webb is not what we know we will discover; it’s what we don’t yet understand or can’t yet fathom about our universe. I can’t wait to see what it uncovers!”
Ground teams began receiving telemetry data from Webb about five minutes after launch. The Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket performed as expected, separating from the observatory 27 minutes into the flight. The observatory was released at an altitude of approximately 870 miles.
Approximately 30 minutes after launch, Webb unfolded its solar array, and mission managers confirmed that the solar array was providing power to the observatory.
After solar array deployment, mission operators will establish a communications link with the observatory via the Malindi ground station in Kenya, and ground control at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore will send the first commands to the spacecraft.
Engineers and ground controllers will conduct the first of three mid-course correction burns about 12 hours and 30 minutes after launch, firing Webb’s thrusters to maneuver the spacecraft on an optimal trajectory toward its destination in orbit about 1 million miles from Earth.
“I want to congratulate the team on this incredible achievement – Webb’s launch marks a significant moment not only for NASA, but for thousands of people worldwide who dedicated their time and talent to this mission over the years,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Webb’s scientific promise is now closer than it ever has been. We are poised on the edge of a truly exciting time of discovery, of things we’ve never before seen or imagined.”
The world’s largest and most complex space science observatory will now begin six months of commissioning in space.
At the end of commissioning, Webb will deliver its first images. Webb carries four state-of-the-art science instruments with highly sensitive infrared detectors of unprecedented resolution. Webb will study infrared light from celestial objects with much greater clarity than ever before.
The premier mission is the scientific successor to NASA’s iconic Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, built to complement and further the scientific discoveries of these and other missions.
“The launch of the Webb Space Telescope is a pivotal moment – this is just the beginning for the Webb mission,” said Gregory L. Robinson, Webb’s program director at NASA Headquarters. “Now we will watch Webb’s highly anticipated and critical 29 days on the edge. When the spacecraft unfurls in space, Webb will undergo the most difficult and complex deployment sequence ever attempted in space. Once commissioning is complete, we will see awe-inspiring images that will capture our imagination.”
The telescope’s revolutionary technology will explore every phase of cosmic history – from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, to everything in between. Webb will reveal new and unexpected discoveries and help humanity understand the origins of the universe and our place in it.
NASA Headquarters oversees the mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages Webb for the agency and oversees work on the mission performed by the Space Telescope Science Institute, Northrop Grumman, and other mission partners.
In addition to Goddard, several NASA centers contributed to the project, including the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and others.
The U.S. population grew at a slower rate in 2021 than in any other year since the founding of the nation, based on historical decennial censuses and annual population estimates.
The U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2021 Population Estimates released this week show that population grew only 0.1% and that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the slower growth the country has experienced in recent years.
The year 2021 is the first time since 1937 that the U.S. population grew by fewer than one million people, featuring the lowest numeric growth since at least 1900, when the Census Bureau began annual population estimates.
Apart from the last few years, when population growth slowed to historically low levels, the slowest rate of growth in the 20th century was from 1918-1919 amid the influenza pandemic and World War I.
Slower population growth has been a trend in the United States for several years, the result of decreasing fertility and net international migration, combined with increasing mortality due to an aging population.
In other words, since the mid-2010’s, births and net international migration have been declining at the same time deaths have been increasing. The collective impact of these trends is slower population growth.
This trend has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a historically slow population increase in 2021 (Figure 2).
The release of the Vintage 2021 estimates includes a blog and America Counts stories that explain how the impacts of COVID-19 and other unique challenges were accounted for in this year’s estimates, including more detail on net international migration and Puerto Rico migration.
The Census Bureau will continue to release more details from Vintage 2021 next year, including more comprehensive data and analyses on the distinctive trends in this series of estimates.
State population changes
The tables below show the states that gained the most population and those that lost the most from 2020 to 2021.
Luke Rogers is chief of the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Branch.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has several dogs in its care that would like homes of their own this holiday season.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of beagle, border collie, Chihuahua German shepherd, Labrador retriever, mastiff, pit bull, Rhodesian ridgeback 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.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control website not listed are still “on hold”).
This male black Labrador retriever mix puppy has a short black coat.
He is in kennel No. 10, ID No. LCAC-A-2428.
Male German shepherd
This 1-year-old male German shepherd has a black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 12, ID No. LCAC-A-1892.
‘Cinnamon’
“Cinnamon” is a 5-year-old female chocolate Labrador retriever-pit bull mix with a short chocolate-colored coat.
She is in kennel No. 13, ID No. LCAC-A-1769.
‘Bruce’
“Bruce” is a 2-year-old male pit bull terrier with a short brown coat.
He is in kennel No. 14, ID No. LCAC-A-2351.
Female mastiff
This 3-year-old female mastiff has a short brindle coat.
She is in kennel No. 15, ID No. LCAC-A-1868.
Male beagle-terrier mix
This young male beagle-terrier mix has a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 18, ID No. LCAC-A-2389.
Male Chihuahua
This 1-year-old male Chihuahua has a short brown coat.
He is in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-2393.
Female border collie mix
This 2-year-old female border collie mix has a black and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 23, ID No. LCAC-A-2207.
Male German shepherd
This 2-year-old male German shepherd has a black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 26, ID No. LCAC-A-1903.
‘Duke’
“Duke is a 1-year-old male Rhodesian ridgeback with a short brown coat.
He is in kennel No. 30, ID No. LCAC-A-2219.
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. — California State Parks is inviting Californians and visitors from around the world to kick-start the new year in a healthy way by getting some fresh air and enjoying the outdoors with the annual First Day Hikes on Jan. 1, 2022.
More than 40 state parks and over 50 guided hikes will take place across the state in this national-led effort by the First Day Hikes program, which encourages individuals and families to experience the beautiful natural and cultural resources found in the outdoors so that they may be inspired to take advantage of these treasures throughout the year.
“First Day Hikes are a great opportunity to improve one’s physical, mental and social health and what better way to start the new year than by connecting with nature,” said California State Parks Director Armando Quintero. “The state’s iconic and beautiful outdoor places support healthy, affordable, physical and social activities. Join staff, docents and volunteers as well as fellow outdoor enthusiasts to welcome 2022.”
In Lake County, both Anderson Marsh State Historic Park and Clear Lake State Park will host the hikes.
At Anderson Marsh, the hike will start at the main parking lot at noon.
Join State Park volunteers for a guided loop three-mile hike following nature trail, connecting to Cache Creek trail and back along the Anderson Flats Trail.
This guided hike will be on the dirt trail and the boardwalk along Cache Creek providing opportunities to see various species of birds along the various habitat zones of the park unit.
The hike is considered easy to moderate and will take about three hours. All ages are welcome; children need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The hike at Clear Lake State Park will begin at 10 a.m. on Jan. 1. Meet at the main Visitor Center parking lot.
The leisurely one mile walk will follow along portions of Kelsey Creek, and out to the shoreline of Clear Lake and back to the parking lot.
Hikers will experience oak woodlands, willow and cottonwood riparian habitats and a large expansive view of the lake. Hikers may encounter a variety of migrating and resident birds and other wildlife.
The hike should take between two and two and a half hours. Participants are welcome to walk part way and make an early return at their own pace. Because this area is along natural habitat and wildlife, no dogs may be brought on this walk.
Participants on the hikes should bring water and snacks and binoculars if they have them, and a hat for protection against the weather. Sturdy shoes that can handle a little mud are recommended.
Rain will cancel the hikes.
Anderson Marsh is located at 8400 Highway 53 in Lower Lake.
Clear Lake State Park is located at 5300 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has added more adult cats to its selection of pets waiting for new homes this holiday week.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
The following cats at the shelter have been cleared for adoption.
‘Punky’
“Punky” is a 4-year-old male domestic shorthair cat with a yellow tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 6, ID No. LCAC-A-2417.
‘Dinky’
“Dinky” is a 10-year-old female domestic shorthair cat with a tortie coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-2375.
‘Coco’
“Coco” is a 3-year-old female Siamese mix with a short gray, black and white coat, and blue eyes.
She is in cat room kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-2426.
Male domestic shorthair
This young male domestic shorthair cat has a gray and white coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 53a, ID No. LCAC-A-2384.
‘Blackette’
“Blackette” is a young male domestic shorthair with a black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 53b, ID No. LCAC-A-2385.
‘Blackie’
“Blackie” is a young male domestic shorthair with a black and white coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 53c, ID No. LCAC-A-2386.
Male domestic shorthair
This young male domestic shorthair has a unique striped gray tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 53d, ID No. LCAC-A-2383.
‘Puff’
“Puff” is a 3-year-old female domestic shorthair mix with white, black, gray and tan markings, and blue eyes.
She is in cat room kennel No. 68, ID No. LCAC-A-2425.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This male domestic shorthair kitten has an orange tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 96a, ID No. LCAC-A-1871.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This male domestic shorthair kitten has an orange tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 96c, ID No. LCAC-A-1873.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This female domestic shorthair kitten has an orange tabby coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 96d, ID No. LCAC-A-1874.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This female domestic shorthair kitten has a gray tabby coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 101a, ID No. LCAC-A-1945.
‘Brutus’
“Brutus” is a 6-year-old male domestic shorthair with a brown tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 146, ID No. 2416.
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New information continues to surface about the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
University of California, San Francisco experts were asked to weigh in on the most common questions about Omicron prevalence, transmission and severity; the safety of holiday gatherings and travel; the new FDA-approved antiviral, and more.
Experts include Peter Chin-Hong, MD, UCSF professor in the Division of Medicine, and Associate Dean for Regional Campuses; Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and laboratory medicine, UCSF Division of Infectious Diseases; Sarah Doernberg, MD, MAS, associate professor in UCSF’s Division of Infectious Diseases ; Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, professor of medicine in the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine; Nevan Krogan, PhD, UCSF professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, director of UCSF’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute; and George Rutherford, MD, UCSF professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
How much Omicron and COVID-19 are we seeing now in the Bay Area and beyond?
Chiu: Omicron is circulating in the Bay Area and is rapidly spreading. We see these same trends – rapidly rising case numbers and proportion of Omicron in California generally and in multiple other states.
Our lab, in collaboration with the San Francisco Department of Public Health and Color Genomics, has found a significant rise in positive tests, with an increasing proportion of Omicron cases. During the first 3 weeks of December, Omicron cases rose from 0 percent of the total positive tests in San Francisco to 68% of the total, while the number of positive cases more than tripled from 38 per week to 128 per week. From December 17 to 20, we had 96 positive samples and 74 (77 percent) of them were Omicron.
CDC data suggest that the proportion of Omicron cases is 90 percent in some parts of the country. This rapid increase is similar to what has been seen across the world. Data from South Africa suggest, however, that Omicron cases may be less severe overall and are less likely to require hospital treatment.
How worried should we be about Omicron?
Gandhi: Omicron is massively more transmissible than delta, perhaps 4 times more. However, there is now evidence that Omicron is less severe than previous strains. We do not know yet if this is because of increasing cellular immunity in the population now or an inherent property of the strain that makes it less virulent, or both.
Two new studies out of the UK and South Africa showed that patients with Omicron were 60 percent to 70 percent less likely to be hospitalized than those with Delta. Other data released from South Africa indicate that average hospital days are shorter than with previous variants (2.8 days compared to eight days); that 90 percent of patients admitted don’t need oxygen therapy with the Omicron variant compared to earlier strains; and that 3% of patients hospitalized recently with COVID-19 have died, versus about 20 percent in the country’s earlier outbreaks.
This reduced severity may be due to increasing immunity in the population or could be partially because the strain is less virulent.
Chin-Hong: South Africa is a younger population, with not as many comorbidities. It has also been recently hit hard by successive waves of natural infection, mostly with Delta. Consequently, there’s a higher population level of immunity (natural plus vaccine) that may not be generalizable to other countries like the U.S. However, this was recently confirmed in studies from England and Scotland showing that omicron infection results in up to two thirds fewer hospitalizations when compared with delta. But the data is evolving. Stay tuned.
What do we know about Omicron and children?
Chin-Hong: We don’t know a lot yet, and what we know mainly comes from South Africa. They saw a lot of kids under age 5 in the hospital with Omicron, but many of them were going in for other reasons. So far, there haven’t been any confirmed deaths of children in South Africa, but they are getting infected because it’s very contagious.
So, children will be protected as long as they can wear a mask and the adults around them are vaccinated. We don’t think outdoors will be that risky; we’re a lot more worried about kids indoors, with all of those mouths and noses close together. We should aim to use the same protocols we did in spring of 2020 – masks, distancing, being outside – to protect ourselves.
Should people be changing their plans for the holidays in light of Omicron?
Chin-Hong: Domestically, I think it’s OK to travel, but you need to up your COVID-safety game. You could double mask or get an N95 mask and make sure it’s tightly fit. If you’re planning on getting together with older members of your family or vulnerable people, you should get tested before that get-together. If you’ll be returning home to immunocompromised or elderly relatives, you’ll want to get a test three or four days after you get back.
What makes the Omicron variant unusual?
Doernberg: This variant’s two most concerning features are: 1) it is very highly contagious and so it is spreading really rapidly, and 2) Omicron is able to get around some of the defenses we have developed over the past couple of years, namely vaccines and monoclonal antibodies.
Information about the severity of infection from Omicron continues to emerge; some reports suggest that severe infections may be less common, but this is a quickly evolving area. Even if this variant proves milder than others, the sheer number of people infected will result in many hospitalizations and will cause many disruptions.
While vaccine effectiveness appears lower for Omicron, the vaccines do still protect against severe disease, and having a booster dose increases the level of protection. Getting vaccinated remains one of the most important defenses. Unfortunately, many of the monoclonal antibodies that we had previously been using for treatment of mild and moderate infections and for post-exposure prevention do not have activity against Omicron. The monoclonal antibody predicted to retain activity, sotrovimab, is in extremely short supply.
What about Omicron’s genetics makes it more transmissible?
Krogan: Scientists have watched closely as new variants of the virus have amassed mutations in the spike region of the virus's genome, because SARS-CoV-2 uses its spikey outer proteins to get into our cells. Some of these mutations are contributing to increased transmissibility of variants like Alpha, Delta, and now Omicron. The Alpha variant had eight spike mutations; Omicron has more than 30.
But changes are accumulating elsewhere in the virus genome, as well, and it’s important to understand their impact. For this reason, we have been studying mutations outside of spike that could also be contributing to increased transmissibility.
These mutations turn up the expression of certain SARS-CoV-2 proteins that we think help the virus evade the immune response, which could increase the viral load. We’re continuing to study this on a systematic level across all variants to try to understand which mutations make the virus more contagious.
How likely is it with the Omicron variant that people will experience a breakthrough infection if they’ve gotten vaccines and a booster?
Chin-Hong: It’s still possible to get a breakthrough after a booster because this variant looks a little different, but fully vaccinated folks are going can be confident that they’re protected more than most against getting really sick, going to the hospital and dying. I can’t say they won’t get infected, but they’ll have the best chance of anybody of withstanding an infection.
If you’re unvaccinated, you’re going to be very vulnerable to this variant. With two doses of vaccine, you’ll be about 30 percent protected. Boosted, it will be about 80 percent protection.
One relatively small study found that if you have a breakthrough case and both vaccine doses, your immune level goes through the roof. You have 1,000 times the antibodies compared to people two weeks after their second dose.
And if you’re boosted and get an infection, the chances of you withstanding a future variant is the highest on the planet. If you’re walking on the street, COVID will probably be running away from you.
What do we know about vaccines, boosters and long COVID?
Rutherford: We don’t know anything about long COVID among people who are vaccinated and boosted, but we expect that it will be a lot less common.
Why is it so hard to get boosters? Is there a shortage?
Rutherford: There is a mismatch between supply and demand for boosters. In some areas, like San Francisco, demand is high but the number of people available to give the vaccines is insufficient. In other parts of California, there is a sufficient supply of boosters and people to give them, but the demand has not yet increased to match the available supply. The bottom line is that in some places, you’re going to have to work to get a booster (lots of calls, etc.) while in others it will be easy.
The FDA just approved Pfizer’s antiviral pill, Paxlovid, to treat COVID-19 in high-risk individuals who are at least 12 years old and weigh at least 88 pounds. What impact will this antiviral have?
Doernberg: I think the drug has really great promise for patients at high risk for complications from COVID, like those with medical comorbidities. There will be some barriers as we are getting off the ground. One is that the drug was shown to be effective within five days of symptoms and ideally should be taken within three days of symptoms. It can be hard to get a COVID test and a result in five days, especially in times when there are surges.
The other thing is that the drug will be in short supply initially; it won’t be available at first to every patient. Also, it will likely take several days before the drug is allocated and delivered to pharmacies. Medical systems will need to build out their electronic medical records so they can prescribe it. There are some drug interactions to consider, as some of the patients who are at highest risk of COVID, like transplant patients, are also on medications that would have a bad interaction with the antiviral – so that adds complexity in terms of prescribing it.
Are we headed for further restrictions?
Rutherford: I think it’s quite possible. In California, for instance, a mask restriction has been put into effect for one month through mid-January. I don’t think we’ll be seeing business closures again. Some businesses are having trouble getting workers, so that may have an impact, but I don’t see us returning to widespread shelter-in-place orders.
The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” better known by its opening line “‘Twas the Night before Christmas,” has a special place among Christmas traditions, right alongside hot chocolate, caroling and bright lights. It has also inspired the modern image of Santa Claus as a jolly old man sporting red and a round belly.
But this poem has been steeped in controversy, and debate still looms over who the true author is. Traditionally, Clement C. Moore – a 19th-century scholar at the General Theological Seminary in New York, where I work as a reference librarian – has been credited with writing the poem in 1822 for his children. Every December, library staff shares our multiple copies of the poem in an exhibit to celebrate the holiday season.
Santa Claus had undergone many makeovers in the Western imagination by the time readers were introduced to “‘Twas the Night before Christmas.”
Some scholars argue that the idea of a magical being bringing gifts and good cheer can be traced all the way back to the Greek goddess Artemis. St. Nicholas, an early Christian bishop in what is now Turkey, was said to have destroyed a temple to Artemis, which he believed was idolatrous. Afterward, some of Artemis’ traits began showing up in legends as characteristics of St. Nicholas. He became known for generosity, such as giving children presents and gifting dowries to young women in need.
His feast day, Dec. 6, became a popular celebration in medieval Europe. By the modern era, images of St. Nick portrayed him as a tall, thin, stern man in a bishop’s hat who brought children both gifts and punishments. In German legend, he was accompanied by Krampus, a half-goat, half-demon creature that meted out a range of punishments to bad children, from mild to violent.
In Victorian Britain, Christmas became a festive holiday, with much feasting and drinking in addition to a religious celebration. In the early 19th century, Santa was sometimes depicted as a reveler from the lower classes – someone in need of charity, rather than a gift-giver himself.
As Christmas began to evolve into a family holiday, the image of Santa changed as well. Now, his jolliness came from the Christmas spirit, not feasting, and his rosy cheeks were the result of joy, not alcohol.
“‘Twas the Night before Christmas” was instrumental in crafting the modern American version of Santa Claus. The poem describes St. Nicholas as “dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,” with twinkling eyes, rosy cheeks, a snow white beard and a round belly. Throughout the poem, Santa is depicted as a jolly elf bringing joy with his reindeer-led sleigh to both children and adults.
Thomas Nast, a Civil War-era cartoonist with the magazine Harper’s Weekly, created the enduring image of Santa Claus in a series of 33 drawings published between 1863 and 1886. The first of these drawings is inspired by the poem’s depiction of Santa carrying a sack full of presents with his sled pulled by reindeer.
Our library holds a copy of Nast’s book “Christmas Drawings for the Human Race,” containing his illustrations for “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The introduction to our copy is written by Nast’s grandson, Thomas Nast St. Hill, who inscribed and donated it to the library in 1971. In some images, Nast used Santa to send a political message – such as one illustration that depicts him with toys related to battle, showing his support for Union soldiers.
Authorship debate
Two hundred years after the poem debuted, one fundamental question remains: Who is its true author?
The poem first appeared anonymously in a New York newspaper, the Troy Sentinel, on Dec, 23, 1823, and was reprinted many times. The New York Book of Poetry cited Moore, the 19th-century biblical scholar, as the author in 1837, and in 1844 he included it in his book of poems. Several years after the poem’s publication in the Sentinel, editor Orville Holley wrote that the author was “by birth and residence [belonging] to the city of New York, and that he is a gentleman of more merit as a scholar and writer than many of more noisy pretensions.” That’s an apt description of Moore, according to Niels Sonne, a librarian at General Theological Seminary in the 20th century who published an article about the authorship controversy. Moore was officially cited as the author in The New York Book of Poetry in 1837.
But the descendants of Henry Livingston Jr., a poet and farmer from an influential New York family, argue that he wrote the famous poem as early as 1808 and was never properly credited. Relatives of Livingston have claimed that his manuscript was brought to Wisconsin, where it was destroyed in a fire in 1847. His defenders point to similarities with other poetry and witty satires he wrote, and argue that his fun personality was much more in keeping with “A Visit from St. Nicholas” than Moore’s. His grandson, William Sturgus Thomas, spent years collecting evidence in his grandfather’s favor, and his papers are housed at the New York Historical Society.
The story continues
Every December, the Seminary library displays all the original copies of the poem we own in addition to more modern retellings and illustrations. Our copy of Moore’s 1844 “Poems” has one significant detail: it’s signed by Moore to the Reverend Samuel Seabury, who was a professor at General Theological Seminary and also the grandson of the first Episcopal American bishop, Samuel Seabury. The inscription says: “To the Reverend Dr. Seabury, with the respect of his friend the author, July 1844.”
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The library also owns Moore’s rare follow-up work, titled “The Night after Christmas,” which was published after his death in 1863. In this version, the children are visited by their doctor after having too many treats delivered by Santa – and the physician shares some similarities with Santa himself:
“His eyes how they twinkled! Had the doctor got merry? His cheeks looked like Port and his breath smelt of Sherry…
But a wink of his eye when he physicked our Fred Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread…”