We inaugurated our 46th president, Joseph Biden, on Jan. 20, but there are no places in the United States named Biden — at least not yet.
With Presidents' Day arriving on Feb. 15, just weeks after a presidential inauguration, we look at where our presidents were born and how many places in the United States carry their names. Places include counties, cities, towns and minor civil divisions.
George Washington, who took the oath on April 30, 1789, tops the list of presidential namesakes with at least 94 places that share his name.
Every other president, except for Dwight Eisenhower and our most recent – Biden, Donald Trump and Barack Obama — have places that share their names, too. (A ghost town named Trump in Colorado disappeared in the 1930s.)
Second on the list of places with presidential monikers is Abraham Lincoln (72), followed by Andrew Jackson (67) and Thomas Jefferson (62).
Five names show up twice because we had different presidents with the same last name: John Adams and John Quincy Adams; William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison; Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt; Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson; George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
Adams, Roosevelt and Bush were related but there is one more name that appears twice but belongs to one man: Cleveland, as in Grover Cleveland, who was our 22nd and 24th president.
So, while Biden is the 46th president, he is the 45th person to be president.
Fun facts
Of the 45 men who have been or are president of the United States, a third (15) came from just two states: eight from Virginia and seven from Ohio.
Many presidents (29) were born in states that were colonies or former colonies. While there were 13 colonies, 15 states were former colonies because Maine was then part of Massachusetts and Vermont was part of New York.
The top five presidents with matching county names are: Washington (31), Jefferson (26), Jackson (24), Lincoln (24) and Madison (20). Of the 3,143 counties in the United States, 298 match presidential names.
Only eight presidents were born west of the Mississippi.
The president born farthest west? Barack Obama in Hawaii.
Even though we may think of Ronald Reagan as a Californian because he served as governor of that state, he was born in Illinois.
Richard Nixon, however, was born in California and is the only president from the West Coast.
Derick Moore is a senior communications specialist at the Census Bureau.
For many in a relationship, the pressure to impress a partner can weigh heavily, and expensive gifts serve as a reminder of the relentless commercializationof the holiday. Meanwhile those still looking for love approach the day with trepidation – another reminder of their single status and the pressure to find a partner.
As a chivalric literary historian who has studied the origins of the holiday, I find this a shame. When the notion of Valentine’s Day as a day for romance emerged in the 1380s it was all about love as a natural life force – birds choosing their mates, the freedom to choose or refuse love and the arrival of springtime. But even then many people did not understand or value these things. In fact, that is why it was invented.
Their work supported principles still important for us today, notably the right to free choice in love and the right to refuse romantic advances.
Chaucer and Granson encountered one another in the service of Richard II of England and admired one another’s poetry. Their poems about Valentine’s Day show them operating as an international chivalric team to address pressing issues in the theory and practice of love, then and now.
In the poem “The Parliament of Fowls,” Chaucer presents Valentine’s Day as a day when birds gather to choose their mates under the supervision of nature. In the poem, presented as a dream, three rival eagles each express a lifelong commitment to a single female. Birds of lower social status and different temperament, waiting in line, quarrel about how to resolve the impasse so they, too, can select their mates.
In the scenario, two of the eagles must be disappointed – Valentine’s Day is no guarantee that all will find love. But in the end the wise female eagle obtains from the figure of Nature the right to take her time in deciding her mate. She chooses not to choose. It is a story of waiting to recognize one’s true love, knowing your own heart and having the right to choose your partner yourself.
Chaucer’s tale relates to an actual courtship that included three suitors and ended in the wedding of two 15-year-olds: Richard II and the princess Anne of Bohemia, in 1382.
Meanwhile, Granson promoted Valentine’s Day in his French poems as a day for human lovers to choose one another and pledge their love, as do the birds. Granson pledges his own undying love to a mysterious lady in his “Complaint to Saint Valentine.” There was no merchandise involved and no gifts were expected.
Free love
Chaucer and Granson’s celebration of love as a relationship between partners, a union of souls grounded in respect and the freedom of choice, contrasts with many of the traditions of the age in which they lived.
In this context, Chaucer and Granson reimagined the already existing Valentine’s Day festival to celebrate the potential beauty of love itself. In a world where forced and child marriages are still all too common, it is important to reflect on Chaucer and Granson’s visions. Their reinvention of the day opened the eyes of poets, knights, ladies and just plain folk to the need for respect and self-respect in courtship – and the value of partnerships entered into for love, not just for lust, power or money.
Servants of love, these two knightly poets shaped Valentine’s Day as a gift for future generations. Their chivalrous enterprise deserves to be celebrated as we pursue our own happiness.
The state of California is adjusting its COVID-19 vaccination priority tiers in order to allow for administering the vaccine more quickly to people under age 65 who have high-risk conditions or disabilities that make them more vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus.
Last month, the state added people age 65 and older to its priority tiers, with the governor announcing that age is to be a primary factor in determining eligibility going forward.
That raised concerns for Californians with disabilities and chronic health conditions who don’t meet the age requirements that they could be kept waiting for the vaccine.
On Friday, the state said it’s now going to give health care providers additional flexibility to vaccinate younger individuals who have underlying health conditions or high-risk disabilities, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said.
Effective March 15, health care providers will be able to use their clinical judgement to vaccinate people age 16 to 64 who are deemed to be at the very highest risk for morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 as a direct result of pregnancy, cancer, chronic kidney disease (stage four and above), oxygen-dependent chronic pulmonary disease, oxygen dependent, Down syndrome, immunocompromised state from a solid organ transplant, sickle cell disease, heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies (excluding hypertension), severe obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus with hemoglobin A1c level greater than 7.5 percent.
Also allowed to receive vaccinations under this new rule are individuals who have developmental or other severe high-risk disabilities that make them likely to develop severe life-threatening illness or death from COVID-19 infection; individuals for whom acquiring COVID-19 would limit their ability to receive ongoing care or services vital to their well-being and survival; and those for whom providing adequate and timely COVID care will be particularly challenging as a result of their disability, according to the provider’s bulletin the state released to Lake County News.
Ghaly said about four to six million Californians are estimated to be in those groups.
That’s in addition to the 13 million individuals now eligible in the first tier, which includes Phase 1A, health care workers and residents of long term care facilities, and Phase 1B, workers in the food and agriculture, education and childcare, and emergency service sectors, and Californians age 65 and above.
State officials are focusing on saving lives, promoting equity and getting to the other side of the pandemic, Ghaly said.
As part of that process, the state realizes that certain individuals have additional risk factors based on various disabilities and conditions. “This is a recognition of that,” Ghaly said of the changes adding the new groups to the vaccination tiers.
The March 15 date allows for stakeholders, providers and other groups to make sure there are services and capacity so that the individuals in these new priority groups receive the vaccine, Ghaly explained.
“We believe this planning period is appropriate,” said Ghaly.
At the same time, Ghaly said the state is still dealing with the scarcity of vaccines.
While the state now can get a three-week vaccine outlook from its federal partners, Ghaly said he can’t say how soon the state will have enough vaccine to get vaccinations for the 13 million individuals now eligible and the up to six million more who will be added in March.
“Supply is the hardest piece,” he said.
Administration officials told reporters on Friday that the process for distributing the vaccine has been based on eligible populations. Early on, those amounts were specifically based on how many health care workers were in each county.
In the state’s conversations with the federal government, Ghaly said there are indications that the availability of vaccine from manufacturers could be going way up by late spring or early summer.
At the same time, Ghaly noted that in distributing the vaccine, “Equity is front of mind.”
He added, “Achieving equity is simply doing more for those who have been disproportionately impacted,” whether due to age, race or sexual orientation.
State to roll out third party administrator to oversee vaccination network
Also on Friday, administration officials discussed with reporters the introduction of a third party administrator who will be part of building a statewide vaccine administration network, a plan Gov. Gavin Newsom first announced last month.
Newsom’s office said the third party administrator will allocate vaccines directly to providers to maximize distribution efficiency.
The third party administrator will ensure that the state vaccine provider network includes appropriate access in disproportionately impacted communities and supplements this access with evening/extended hours, transportation services, translation services, home-bound services, mobile vaccine services and physical accessibility features at vaccination events, administration officials said.
Officials said that they will have individual conversations with county Public Health leadership about their challenges with vaccinations as well as where the process is working to help inform the third party administrator as they build out the state vaccine provider network.
Under the third party administrator, counties will have wide latitude to determine who receives the vaccine, administration officials said.
On Tuesday, Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace convened the first meeting of the COVID-19 Ethics Ad Hoc Committee that he has assembled.
Lake County News asked Pace on Friday how that committee and its suggestions on prioritizing vaccinations would interact with the changes the state is implementing, including the introduction of the third party administrator.
“Still working on a lot of the specifics,” Pace responded in an email.
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.
Elizabeth Leyva, Texas A&M-San Antonio; David J. Purpura, Purdue University, and Emily Solari, University of Virginia
Math and reading scores for 12th graders in the U.S. were at a historic low even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a massive shift to remote learning, according to results of the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress released in late 2020. We asked three scholars to explain why so many high school seniors aren’t proficient in these critical subjects.
Elizabeth Leyva, director of entry-level mathematics, Texas A&M University-San Antonio
One might expect the jump from high school to college mathematics to be a natural progression, or a small step up in difficulty or expectations. But over time it has actually become a chasm, and that chasm continues to grow.
More students are taking advanced coursework – algebra II or higher – in high school. But studying the material doesn’t mean that a student has truly learned it. As a result, a student can pass a course which should be a college preparatory course, such as algebra II, yet fail a standardized placement exam, or not score high enough on SAT/ACT tests to be deemed “college ready.”
Most high school teachers hold their students to a different set of expectations than college faculty do. In many cases, the policies are set by the school district, so high school teachers are simply upholding rules that the community and parents have pushed for. This can include allowing students to submit late work, retest on assessments they performed poorly on and use a calculator for most assignments.
The rationale is well intentioned; high school students are young learners, and may need multiple opportunities to master a concept.
Multiple opportunities to pass means more students pass. But this generous assessment strategy has unintended consequences on student motivation and accountability. The effect is that students can earn a passing grade but not retain or master the material in a meaningful way. This is how a student can receive a B in algebra II, for example, but land in a developmental class when they enter college.
David Purpura, associate professor of human development and family studies, co-director of the Center for Early Learning, Purdue University
When looking at the striking data for 12th graders from the national report card, policymakers, researchers, parents and teachers often ask: What’s going on with high school math? Should we change math instruction at this age?
Math is often taught with few explicit connections across individual classes. Sometimes these classes follow a certain order: for example, algebra I and algebra II. But the content in and across the classes isn’t being thoroughly connected. For example, in the early elementary years, we talk about addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division. We move on to fractions, and then algebra. Yet this still treats these concepts as separable rather than integrated.
But math is an interrelated web of knowledge with new information building on previously learned information. And, this acquisition of knowledge begins early. There are significant individual differences in children’s math performance even prior to kindergarten.
I believe children aren’t receiving a strong enough foundation for basic math skills in the earliest years. Preschool teachers spend less than five minutes per day on numbers. Nearly a third of classrooms provide no number instruction at all.
In kindergarten, the level of math instruction is typically well below what children already know and can do. The misalignment could be attributable to the low expectations set forth in the Common Core Standards – the academic standards shared across the majority of states. Over 85% of children are able to meet certain end-of-kindergarten expectations before they even enter kindergarten. These disparities continue through elementary school.
So, the question in my mind isn’t: Why are so many high school seniors not proficient in math? The question is: How can teachers better link math concepts across all grade levels and improve learning?
Emily Solari, professor of reading education, University of Virginia
How kids learn to read is a well-researched aspect of human learning. Scientists have identified what happens in the brain when children learn to read and why some children have difficulty mastering this skill. Despite this wealth of evidence about how reading develops, only 37% of 12th gradersread at a proficient or advanced level, according to the national assessment.
While standardized tests are not the perfect measure of reading ability, they do provide a pulse of reading attainment across the country. Importantly, the scores show significant differences in reading performance between particular groups of students. Profound gaps exist between white and Black students and white and Hispanic students.
The education system is fraught with inequities that have a greater negative impact on historically marginalized students – particularly those who are Black, Hispanic, poorer or have a disability. Recent data suggests the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these gaps. Improving the system, and how students are taught reading, is a matter of equity.
Why, if there is solid evidence on how children learn to read, has this not translated into classroom practice and better reading outcomes for students?
Studies show that children should be taught the alphabetic system – the relationship between the sounds of letters and their written form – in order to learn how to read words. The ability to read words combined with vocabulary and language development is essential to reading comprehension.
In addition to what is taught, how children are taught to read is also important. Reading instruction should have a clear scope and sequence, with skills building on each other over time.
However, a recent survey suggests that about 75% of teachers use curricula that teach early reading using a cueing approach. And, 65% of college professors teach this approach to new teachers. This method does not align with the scientific evidence of how children learn how to read.
Sometimes called “MSV” – shorthand for meaning, syntactical and visual – the cueing approach emphasizes reading whole words over learning the alphabetic code. This method of teaching reading can be especially problematic for children who are having difficulties learning how to read.
To improve students’ reading ability, I believe schools, districts and states must push multiple levers simultaneously. This includes making sure instruction, curriculum and testing all align with the science of reading, and that teachers and administrators are provided adequate professional development about reading instruction.
Further, teacher education programs must commit to preparing teachers who understand how reading develops in children’s brains and how to implement teaching practices that are based on current evidence.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has four dogs looking for new families to love them.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of pit bull and Rottweiler.
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 Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
“Jack” is a young male Rottweiler mix in kennel No. 22, ID No. 14328. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Jack’
“Jack” is a young male Rottweiler mix.
He has a short red and black coat and a docked tail.
He is in kennel No. 22, ID No. 14328.
This male pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 14339. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male pit bull terrier
This male pit bull terrier has a short brindle and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 14339.
“Sargent Chunk” is a young male Rottweiler in kennel No. 28, ID No. 14303. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Sargent Chunk’
“Sargent Chunk” is a young male Rottweiler with a short red and black coat.
He is in kennel No. 28, ID No. 14303.
This male pit bull terrier mix is in kennel No. 30, ID No. 14338. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male pit bull terrier
This male pit bull terrier mix has a short black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 30, ID No. 14338.
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.
The map supports local communities in making data-driven decisions to safely open classrooms and helps ensure public transparency.
“As COVID-19 conditions continue to improve and vaccinations ramp up throughout the state, this map will provide local communities with accessible, up-to-date information on how districts in their communities and beyond are adapting to the pandemic, including safety planning and implementation,” said Gov. Newsom. “This map is one of many resources we have made available that will help school staff and families make informed decisions as we safely reopen our schools.”
The interactive map was developed in partnership with county offices of education and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence.
The map will display data from all school types – including school districts and charter and private schools – indicating status on reopening, safety planning and COVID-19 supports. Local communities and school staff will be able to leverage this tool when evaluating their reopening plans.
The Safe Schools Reopening Map will help clarify the planning and implementation of safe reopening.
The California Department of Public Health will be adding other key data to the map, including outbreaks reported in each school district and whether the school has partnered with the Valencia Branch Lab for COVID-19 testing.
To provide up-to-date information, schools will input their data every two weeks. Additional data – including student enrollment data – will be collected and displayed publicly, subject to legislative approval.
Since unveiling the Safe Schools for All Plan, the state has launched the Safe Schools for All Hub to serve as a one-stop shop for information about safe in-person instruction.
The governor’s 2021-22 State Budget proposes historic levels of funding for schools – nearly $90 billion, including $3.8 billion above the Prop 98 minimum – which builds on existing state and federal funds to support schools in responding to the pandemic.
The State Safe Schools Team has also:
– Issued updated guidance that consolidates requirements from Cal/OSHA and CDPH. – Provided direct technical assistance on key safety measures to hundreds of school leaders per week through an online portal. – Monitored and acted on feedback regarding school safety, which school staff and families can submit either via an online portal or a telephone hotline (with non-English options available). – Distributed an extra month of PPE and supplies to all public schools via county offices of education. – Onboarded over 800 schools in 41 counties to the state Valencia Branch Laboratory to support COVID-19 testing. The Lab continues to build supports tailored to schools, including dropboxes throughout the state to reduce logistical costs, an online platform that manages consent and data reporting, and certified support for testing students. – Published new COVID-19 testing resources for schools, including contact information for commercial laboratories and playbooks to support implementation.
The State Safe Schools Team will continue developing resources that support schools to plan and implement safe school reopenings, beginning with our youngest and most disproportionately impacted students.
From left, a woman operating a hand drill at Vultee-Nashville, Tennessee, as she worked on the "Vengeance" dive bomber in February 1943; John Lewis speaking at a meeting of American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington, D.C. in April 1964; poet Phyllis Wheatley shown in this engraving by Scipio Moorhead, lived from 1753 to 1784; she was the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Images courtesy of the Library of Congress, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – February is Black History Month, a celebration acknowledging the achievements of Black Americans and how they have uniquely shaped the nation’s history.
Celebrating the contributions to our nation made by people of African descent goes back to 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.
The effort began with the advocacy of Harvard-trained American historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland., who sought to recognize the heritage and achievement of Black Americans.
The event was first celebrated during the second week of February 1926, selected because it coincides with the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) and abolitionist/writer Frederick Douglass (Feb. 14). That 1926 event was sponsored by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
That first celebration inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs and host performances and lectures.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford issued a message on the observance of Black History Week urging all Americans to "recognize the important contribution made to our nation's life and culture by black citizens."
Since 1976, February has been officially designated as Black History Month.
That week would continue to be set aside for the event until 1976 when, as part of the nation’s bicentennial, it was expanded to a month. Since then, U.S. presidents have proclaimed February as National African American History Month.
Earlier this month, the Board of Supervisors and the Clearlake City Council presented proclamations in honor of Black History Month.
The city of Clearlake’s proclamation notes that, “while the history of Black Americans is also the story of countless nameless heroes brought to our shores who endured lives of bondage and oppression, the deprivation of their civil rights, and ravages of bigotry and racism, it is a history for which most of the chapters have yet to be written as Black Americans contribute to the American promise.”
The proclamation also notes that, “for generations, African Americans have strengthened our Nation by urging reforms, overcoming obstacles, and breaking down barriers,” and cites the contributions of individuals including Martin Luther King Jr., Elijah Cummings, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, Cicely Tyson, Hank Aaron, Kamala Harris and Rev. Rafael Warnock.
Mendocino College also is celebrating Black History Month.
“As we continue to face a global pandemic, allow the celebration of Black History Month to serve as a reminder of the multiple contributions made by Black Americans and other ethnic communities,” says Mendocino College President Tim Karas. “We commemorate Black History Month by continuing the essential work of self-reflection and strengthening our resolve to stay engaged in equity work in our district and to work harder against racism (overt and structural) and toward social justice.”
On Feb. 24, a webinar titled “You Don’t Know Who We Be: A Conversation about the Pre-enslavement & Pre-Colonial History of Africans in America” will be hosted by BCC Speaker Series with Dr. Edward Bush, President of Cosumnes River College. Register for this webinar here.
The Mendocino College librarians have also put together a LibGuide for Black History Month and the Black Lives Matter movement specifically. View the page here.
Abolitionist and activist Harriet Tubman, pictured in 1911, two years before her death; the photo is believed to have been taken at her home in Auburn, New York. (Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA) More information about the celebration of Black Americans can be found here: https://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/?loclr=ealn.
The following facts come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s surveys.
Did you know?
48.2 million The Black population, either alone or in combination with one or more races, in the United States in 2019.
1,916 Total population of Lake County residents identifying as Black.
87.9% The percentage of African Americans age 25 and older with a high school diploma or higher in 2019.
30.7% The percentage of the employed Black population age 16 and older working in management, business, science and arts occupations in 2019.
124,004 The number of Black-owned employer businesses in the United States in 2017.
2.1 million The number of Black military veterans in the United States nationwide in 2019.
From left, Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of former slaves, was an educator and founder of Bethune-Cookman College, as well as a stateswoman, philanthropist and civil rights activist; soldier John Sharper, believed to be a member of the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery regiment; and activist and abolitionist Frederick Douglass in 1856. Images of Bethune and Sharper courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division; image of Douglass courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Creative Commons license.
Solar system distances to scale, showing the newly discovered planetoid, nicknamed "Farfarout," compared to other known solar system objects, including the previous record holder 2018 VG18 "Farout," also found by the same team. Credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa, Scott S. Sheppard (Carnegie Institution for Science) and Brooks Bays (University of Hawai’i). A team of astronomers, including associate professor Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University's Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, have confirmed a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system.
The planetoid, which has been nicknamed "Farfarout," was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down its orbit. The Minor Planet Center has now given it the official designation of 2018 AG37.
Farfarout's nickname distinguished it from the previous record holder "Farout," found by the same team of astronomers in 2018.
In addition to Trujillo, the discovery team includes Scott S. Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science and David Tholen from the University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy, who have an ongoing survey to map the outer solar system beyond Pluto.
Farfarout will be given an official name (like Sedna and other similar objects) after its orbit is better determined over the next few years. It was discovered at the Subaru 8-meter telescope located atop Maunakea in Hawai’i, and recovered using the Gemini North and Magellan telescopes in the past few years to determine its orbit based on its slow motion across the sky.
Farfarout's average distance from the Sun is 132 astronomical units (au); 1 au is the distance between the Earth and Sun. For comparison, Pluto is only 39 au from the Sun. The newly discovered object has a very elongated orbit that takes it out to 175 au at its most distant, and inside the orbit of Neptune, to around 27 au, when it is close to the Sun.
Farfarout's journey around the Sun takes about a thousand years, crossing the massive planet Neptune's orbit every time. This means Farfarout has likely experienced strong gravitational interactions with Neptune over the age of the solar system, and is the reason why it has such a large and elongated orbit.
"A single orbit of Farfarout around the Sun takes a millennium," said Tholen. "Because of this long orbital, it moves very slowly across the sky, requiring several years of observations to precisely determine its trajectory."
Farfarout is very faint, and based on its brightness and distance from the Sun, the team estimates its size to be about 400 kilometers across, putting it on the low end of being a dwarf planet, assuming it is an ice rich object.
"The discovery of Farfarout shows our increasing ability to map the outer solar system and observe farther and farther towards the fringes of our solar system," said Sheppard. "Only with the advancements in the last few years of large digital cameras on very large telescopes has it been possible to efficiently discover very distant objects like Farfarout. Even though some of these distant objects are quite large, being dwarf planet in size, they are very faint because of their extreme distances from the Sun. Farfarout is just the tip of the iceberg of solar system objects in the very distant solar system."
Because Neptune strongly interacts with Farfarout, Farfarout's orbit and movement cannot be used to determine if there is another unknown massive planet in the very distant solar system, since these interactions dominate Farfarout's orbital dynamics.
Only those objects whose orbits stay in the very distant solar system, well beyond Neptune's gravitational influence, can be used to probe for signs of an unknown massive planet. These include Sedna and 2012 VP113, which, although they are currently closer to the Sun than Farfarout (at around 80 AU), they never approach Neptune and thus would be strongly influenced by the possible Planet X instead.
"Farfarout's orbital dynamics can help us understand how Neptune formed and evolved, as Farfarout was likely thrown into the outer solar system by getting too close to Neptune in the distant past," said Trujillo. "Farfarout will likely strongly interact with Neptune again since their orbits continue to intersect."
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has nearly a dozen dogs in need of new and loving homes.
The following dogs are ready for adoption or foster.
“Agatha.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Agatha’
“Agatha” is a female Rhodesian Ridgeback mix with a short red and black coat.
She is dog No. 4603.
“Boog.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Boog’
“Boog” is a male Rottweiler with a short black coat.
He is dog No. 4609.
“Breeze.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Breeze’
“Breeze” is a female American Pit Bull Terrier mix.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 4445.
“Dorito.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Dorito’
“Dorito” is a male American Staffordshire Terrier mix with a short white and gray coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 4576.
“Inky.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Inky’
“Inky” is a male German Shepherd mix with a long black coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 4324.
“Mommas.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Mommas’
“Mommas” is a female American Pit Bull terrier mix with a white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 4499.
“Nebula.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Nebula’
“Nebula” is a female shepherd mix puppy.
She has a medium-length gray and black coat.
Nebula is dog No. 4644.
“Rudolph.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Rudolph’
“Rudolph” is a male shepherd mix.
He has a short tan and black coat.
He is dog No. 4436.
“Scooter.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Scooter’
“Scooter” is a male shepherd mix puppy.
He has a medium-length tan and white coat.
He is dog No. 4649.
“Tiabeanie.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Tiabeanie’
“Tiabeanie” is a female American Bully with a short black with white markings.
She is dog No. 4602.
“Toby.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Toby’
“Toby” is a friendly senior male boxer mix.
He has a short tan and white coat.
He is dog No. 4389.
“Yule.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Yule’
“Yule” is a male husky with a black and white coat.
Yule is dog No. 4432.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
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 one of Lake County’s members of the House of Representatives will give an update on funding available through President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) will hold a virtual press conference at noon Pacific Time on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
This event will be held over Zoom and interested participants must email Thompson’s office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in order to join. Interested participants will be notified via email with instructions on how to join.
The event will also be streamed on Facebook Live via Thompson’s page.
During the event, Thompson will highlight the importance of the state and local funding that was included in the American Rescue Plan.
Thompson will be joined by leaders from across the Fifth Congressional District that support this legislation.
The Fifth Congressional District includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
A residential structure fire on Thursday, February 11, 2021, in Nice, California, destroyed a home and sent two people to the hospital. Courtesy photo. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Two people were injured in a Thursday night structure fire that destroyed a home in Nice.
The fire, at 3550 Lakeview Drive, was first dispatched at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, according to radio reports.
Northshore Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Dave Emmel told Lake County News that the home was a singlewide trailer.
Firefighters arriving on scene minutes after dispatch requested an ambulance for the first of two burn victims.
The first victim was a woman who was reported to be 70 years old and suffering from second- and third-degree burns over most of her body, Emmel said.
Due to the weather, an air ambulance couldn’t respond, based on radio traffic.
The woman and a second burn patient were transported to the hospital, Emmel said.
Emmel said firefighters knocked the fire down pretty quickly. The trailer, however, was a complete loss.
In addition to the singlewide trailer, a travel trailer next to it also was burned, Emmel said. No other nearby structures were damaged.
Firefighters at the scene also requested Pacific Gas and Electric send out a crew, as wires were down, according to scanner reports.
Besides the two people transported to the hospital, Emmel said the fire displaced one other person.
As to the cause of the fire, “We believe it was accidental,” Emmel said.
He said the source has so far been traced to a heater coming in contact with a couch.
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.
This artist's concept shows the planned flight path of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during its final flyby of asteroid Bennu, scheduled for April 7. Credit: University of Arizona. On April 7, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission will give asteroid Bennu one last glance before saying farewell.
Before departing for Earth on May 10, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will perform a final flyby of Bennu – capturing its last images of sample collection site Nightingale to look for transformations on Bennu’s surface after the Oct. 20, 2020, sample collection event.
The OSIRIS-REx mission team recently completed a detailed safety analysis of a trajectory to observe sample site Nightingale from a distance of approximately 2.4 miles (3.8 kilometers).
The spacecraft’s flight path is designed to keep OSIRIS-REx a safe distance from Bennu, while ensuring the science instruments can collect precise observations.
The single flyby will mimic one of the observation sequences conducted during the mission’s Detailed Survey phase in 2019.
OSIRIS-REx will image Bennu for a full 4.3-hour rotation to obtain high-resolution images of the asteroid’s northern and southern hemispheres and its equatorial region. The team will then compare these new images with the previous high-resolution imagery of Bennu obtained during 2019.
This final flyby of Bennu was not part of the original mission schedule, but the observation run will provide the team an opportunity to learn how the spacecraft’s contact with Bennu’s surface altered the sample site.
Bennu’s surface was considerably disturbed after the Touch-and-Go, or TAG, sample collection event, with the collector head sinking 1.6 feet (48.8 centimeters) into the asteroid’s surface while firing a pressurized charge of nitrogen gas. The spacecraft’s thrusters also mobilized a substantial amount of surface material during the back-away burn.
During this new mission phase, called the Post-TAG Observation phase, the spacecraft will perform five separate navigation maneuvers in order to return to the asteroid and position itself for the flyby.
OSIRIS-REx executed the first maneuver on Jan. 14, which acted as a braking burn and put the spacecraft on a trajectory to rendezvous with the asteroid one last time.
Since October’s sample collection event, the spacecraft has been slowly drifting away from the asteroid, and ended up approximately 1,635 miles (2,200 km) from Bennu.
After the braking burn, the spacecraft is now slowly approaching the asteroid and will perform a second approach maneuver on Mar. 6, when it is approximately 155 miles (250 km) from Bennu.
OSIRIS-REx will then execute three subsequent maneuvers, which are required to place the spacecraft on a precise trajectory for the final flyby on Apr. 7.
OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to depart Bennu on May 10 and begin its two-year journey back to Earth. The spacecraft will deliver the samples of Bennu to the Utah Test and Training Range on Sep. 24, 2023.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing.
Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the spacecraft and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.