The city-owned Dutch Harbor property in Lakeport, California. Photo courtesy of the city of Lakeport. LAKEPORT, Calif. – The city of Lakeport reported that Library Park has not been reopened, but another city-owned lakeshore property, Dutch Harbor, is available for public use.
Updated health orders Issued last week by Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace now allow some activities including fishing from shore, hiking and jogging in areas where public parks are open, as Lake County News has reported.
However, the city of Lakeport reported that Library Park remains fully closed and these activities will not be allowed there.
While the city reported that it does desire to open Library Park as soon as it can, “We must be able to fully provide for public health and safety and there are additional reasons that we can not yet allow any activities,” officials said in a Sunday statement.
Major construction is still in progress at Library Park, and to protect employees from the spread of COVID-19 the city has limited park staff available and it does not have any open public restrooms available.
“We will continually assess our ability to allow public access as we understand the people’s desire to use their public parklands,” city officials said.
While Library Park remains closed, the city-owned land known as Dutch Harbor in the 900 block of North Main Street is open for public access, the city said.
Dutch Harbor has parking and the shore of Clear Lake can be reached for fishing or walking.
Joshua M. Pearce, Michigan Technological University
Most products in Americans’ homes are labeled “Made in China,” but even those bearing the words “Made in USA” frequently have parts from China that are now often delayed. The coronavirus pandemic closed so many factories in China that NASA could observe the resultant drop in pollution from space, and some products are becoming harder to find.
A sample from the thousands of items that can be 3D printed from free designs.Joshua Pearce, CC BY-ND
The cost of 3D printers has dropped low enough to be accessible to most Americans. People can download, customize and print a remarkable range of products at home, and they often end up costing less than it takes to purchase them.
From rapid prototyping to home factory
Not so long ago, the prevailing thinking in industry was that the lowest-cost manufacturing was large, mass manufacturing in low-labor-cost countries like China. At the time, in the early 2000s, only Fortune 500 companies and major research universities had access to 3D printers. The machines were massive, expensive tools used to rapidly prototype parts and products.
More than a decade ago, the patents expired on the first type of 3D printing, and a professor in Britain had the intriguing idea of making a 3D printer that could print itself. He started the RepRap project – short for self-replicating rapid prototyper – and released the designs with open-source licenses on the web. The designs spread like wildfire and were quickly hacked and improved upon by thousands of engineers and hobbyists all over the world.
Many of these makers started their own companies to produce variants of these 3D printers, and people can now buy a 3D printer for US$250 to $550. Today’s 3D printers are full-fledged additive manufacturing robots, which build products one layer at a time. Additive manufacturing is infiltrating many industries.
My colleagues and I have observed clear trends as the technology threatens major disruption to global value chains. In general, companies are moving from using 3D printing for prototyping to adopting it to make products they need internally. They’re also using 3D printing to move manufacturing closer to their customers, which reduces the need for inventory and shipping. Some customers have bought 3D printers and are making the products for themselves.
This is not a small trend. Amazon now lists 3D printing filament, the raw material for 3D printers, under “Amazon Basics” along with batteries and towels. In general, people will save 90% to 99% off the commercial price of a product when they print it at home.
Coronavirus accelerates a trend
We had expected that adoption of 3D printing and the move toward distributed manufacturing would be a slow process as more and more products were printed by more and more people. But that was before there was a real risk of products becoming unavailable as the coronavirus spread.
The U.S. government is curating a collection of 3D printing designs for medical personal protective equipment.Dr. Beth Ripley, VHA 3D Printing Network
The value of industrial commodities continues to slide because the coronavirus has put a major dent in demand as manufacturers shut down and potential customers are quarantined. This will limit people’s access to products while increasing their costs.
The disruptions to global supply chains caused by strict quarantines, stay-at-home orders and other social distancing measures in industrialized nations around the world present an opportunity for distributed manufacturing to fill unmet needs. Many people are likely, in the short to medium term, to find some products unavailable or overly expensive.
In many cases, they will be able to make the products they need themselves (if they have access to a printer). Our research on the global value chains found that 3D printing with plastics in particular are well advanced so any product with a considerable number of polymer components, even if the parts are flexible, can be 3D printed.
Metal and ceramic 3D printing is already available and expanding rapidly for a range of items, from high-cost medical implants to rocket engines to improving simple bulk manufactured products with 3D printed brackets at low costs. Printable electronics, pharmaceuticals and larger items like furniture are starting to become available or will be in the near future. These more advanced 3D printers could help accelerate the trend toward distributed manufacturing, even if they don’t end up in people’s homes.
There are some hurdles, particularly for consumer 3D printing. 3D printing filament is itself subject to disruptions in global supply chains, although recyclebot technology allows people to create filament from waste plastic. Some metal 3D printers are still expensive and the fine metal powder many of them use as raw material is potentially hazardous if inhaled, but there are now $1,200 metal printers that use more accessible welding wire. These new printers as well as those that can do multiple materials still need development, and there’s a long way to go before all products and their components can be 3D printed at home. Think computer chips.
When my colleagues and I initially analyzed when products would be available for distributed manufacturing, we focused only on economics. If the coronavirus continues to disrupt supply chains and hamper international trade, however, the demand for unavailable or costly products could speed up the transition to distributed manufacturing of all products.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino County Public Health reported Friday evening that three additional cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Round Valley.
Those new cases made for six additional cases in Mendocino County in a 24-hour period, and on overall doubling in Mendocino County’s caseload, which as of Friday night stood at 11.
Of Mendocino County’s 11 cases, four have recovered, none have required hospitalization and there have been no deaths, Public Health officials said.
Health officials said the latest testing was performed at Round Valley Indian Health Center and the health care workers used proper personal protective equipment.
Following protocol, the Round Valley Indian Health Center reported the three new positive cases to Mendocino County Public Health, which initiated a contact tracing investigation and is working with Round Valley Indian Health Center on additional testing of individuals potentially exposed to the individuals that have tested positive.
Public Health said the individuals are in stable condition, in isolation at home with active public health monitoring and did not require hospitalization. Asymptomatic close contacts of the cases are in quarantine.
Mendocino County Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan, Round Valley Indian Health Center and Round Valley Indian Tribal Council urge residents to follow the health officer’s shelter-in-place order and stay home unless essential travel is required for groceries, medicine or other necessary items.
Officials also urged community members to wash hands with soap and water; clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily; avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands; cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or the inner elbow; avoid close contact with people who are sick; do not go to work if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough; and wear facial coverings when leaving home.
With most U.S. schools closed for the rest of the school year due to the COVID-19 outbreak – and uncertainty surrounding the decision to reopen them in the fall – parents may be tempted to try out home-schooling.
As a sociologist who has interviewed dozens of home-schooling parents to learn which practices work best, I know that first-timers can quickly find themselves feeling unprepared and overwhelmed. With that in mind, here are six tips for parents who educate their children at home.
1. Don’t copy a regular classroom
When many of the parents I interviewed first started home-schooling, they tried to make their homes look and feel like a traditional school environment. They set up desks and decorated the walls with the kinds of things you’d see in a classroom. They set a schedule and positioned themselves as teacher. But they soon came to see this as a rookie mistake that causes a lot of stress and pressure.
A woman I’ll call Beth, a 37-year-old mother who has been home-schooling her four children for four years, warns parents not do “public school at home” because “it doesn’t really work.”
“Don’t make it look like public school at your kitchen table,” Beth says. “Just have more conversations with kids and see who they are and that will help you develop how you want to do school because you’ll know what speaks to them.”
2. Don’t spend much on curriculum
You might feel the urge to rush to buy a “boxed curriculum,” a set of grade-level materials that can cost more than US$1,000. Before you do that, try to find free educational lessons on websites such as Khan Academy and Learning Games for Kids. Additionally, these home-schooling parents often used their local libraries for books and programming, although during the pandemic they are now using libraries’ online and e-book resources only. They also use documentaries found online and through TV streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime.
Also, most home-schooling parents that I interviewed didn’t subscribe to just one method or program. Instead, they piece together lessons that were unique to their child using a blend of commercial and free materials.
The parents in my study, which is forthcoming, spent an average of 3.5 hours a day home-schooling. At first, this might seem like much less than the average of six to seven hours a day spent in the traditional public school classroom. However, one key difference is that at home, your child is receiving a one-on-one education instead of splitting one teacher’s attention with 25 or so other students. Instead of trying to have school all day, focus on quality over quantity.
“Megan,” a home-schooling mother of three, said she has often seen home-schooling parents “freaking out” because they want to give their children four or five hours of schooling a day. “One-on-one instruction is way more efficient than in a class of 20 to 30 kids,” Megan says. “And you don’t need to be schooling from nine to three every day solid.”
4. Be flexible
Many of the parents I spoke with stressed the importance of being flexible and doing what works for your family. Because children are now learning at home, an environment in which they are used to being relaxed, it could be beneficial to allow them to sit on the floor, to do their work in the evening, or to do school work on Saturdays instead of Wednesdays. Maybe your child will fare better completing all of their math on Tuesdays but spreading science lessons out over the week. Be willing to try new things if something isn’t working for your family.
“Be flexible. Give yourself a lot of grace because there’s definitely a learning period for everybody,” says “Gayle,” 36, a home-schooling mother of five. “And it takes a while to get the hang of it. And just figure out what works for you.”
5. Hire experts
Home-schooling parents don’t always take on the full burden of their child’s education themselves, particularly when their children get older and into tough subjects. Many hire online tutors. Sometimes children have an interest in something that their parent doesn’t know much about, such as a foreign language or astrophysics or organic chemistry. These parents turn to tutors and specialized classes to make sure their child gets the knowledge they need to succeed and can pursue subjects that spark their curiosity.
One such place to find tutors is Outschool, which offers classes, some with certified teachers and experts. The classes can cost anywhere from $10 for a one-time class to $200 to $300 for an entire semester. If your child needs more one-on-one instruction, the average cost of a personal tutor can range from $20 to $80 per hour, depending on the subject. Another good resource for tutoring is to tap into your local university to find both undergraduate and graduate students who may be looking to make some extra cash teaching children. Due to the closure of the majority of universities and music venues, online tutoring is becoming even easier to find, as many people have turned to the internet, using platforms such as Zoom, to continue to share their knowledge. Some are even offering their services for free.
6. Join support groups
Many parents in my research turned to Facebook and Google to find local and virtual home-schooling support groups. These groups are places where parents go to air their frustrations, seek playdates (even of the online, social distancing variety), review curriculum, ask questions and find resources. This would be particularly helpful before making decisions on curriculum or outsourcing. Cast a wide net when looking for support. If you’re nervous about joining because you feel as if you aren’t truly home-schooling, reach out to the admins of the group to see if it’s a good fit.
For many of these home-schooling parents, it was very helpful to have a group of like-minded people to turn to during tough times. “That’s one of things I like about the co-op … there’s other moms,” says “Brianna,” home-schooling mother of two. “So, during lunchtime, we can say, ‘I had a horrible day.‘ 'How do you do this or how do you do that?’ And a lot of things have come about just talking to people and in forming a community, because I don’t think you can home-school on your own without some type of support network.”
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has six dogs ready to go to new homes this week.
While the shelter has moved most of its dogs into foster, potential adopters can make appointments to meet and adopt available dogs.
The following dogs are ready for adoption or foster.
“Buddy.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Buddy’
“Buddy” is a male spaniel mix with a black and white coat.
He is dog No. 3667.
“Freckles.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Freckles’
“Freckles” is a female Australian Cattle Dog mix with a short red and white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 3668.
“Mitch.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Mitch’
“Mitch” is a male American Staffordshire Terrier with a short brindle and white coat.
He is dog No. 3733.
“Princess.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Princess’
“Princess” is a female German Shepherd with a black and tan coat.
She has been spayed.
Princess is young and energetic. She previously lived around a smaller dog and has been around the office cat. She will benefit from training and attention.
She is dog No. 3669.
“Tyson.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Tyson’
“Tyson” is a male American Staffordshire Terrier with a short gray and white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 1863.
“Woodrow.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Woodrow’
“Woodrow” is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier with a black and white coat.
He is dog No. 3281.
Clearlake Animal Control’s shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53, off Airport Road.
Hours of operation are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The shelter is closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays; the shelter offers appointments on the days it’s closed to accommodate people.
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.
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or at 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.
Cal Expo’s Board voted unanimously during its Friday board meeting to cancel the 2020 California State Fair and Food Festival until 2021 due to the extensive challenges posed by the COVID-19 public health crisis.
Cal Expo said the decision was made in accordance with the directives issued by the governor and California Department of Public Health.
This year’s state fair had been scheduled for July 17 to Aug. 2.
“While we had remained hopeful the California State Fair would be able to continue our 166-year tradition of showcasing the best of California and entertaining the state’s residents and families, it’s clear the impact of COVID-19 will continue to be felt for the foreseeable future and that large gatherings should be postponed at this time,” said Cal Expo General Manager and CEO Rick Pickering.
“The health and safety of the community, our guests, and staff is our number one priority. Canceling this summer’s California State Fair is the right thing to do, and is in line with the measured, scientific approach that’s been implemented by the governor and health officials to fight COVID-19. California Exposition and State Fair is a proud member of the statewide community and we will continue to do our part to combat COVID-19,” said Pickering.
Pickering said Cal Expo is playing a regional role in the effort to combat the virus, including serving as a drive-through testing site, as well as a temporary emergency isolation trailer facility for homeless individuals who have been exposed or infected.
He said canceling the state fair and many of the 200 year-round events hosted at Cal Expo is having a significant economic impact on Cal Expo and the region.
“We are sensitive to the fact Cal Expo is a regional, economic engine that generates sales tax revenue and employs over 800 seasonal workers. Our staff is working diligently on a strategy to safely reopen when appropriate and we look forward to the time when we can all gather again safely to celebrate the great things Californians have done and will do in the future,” Pickering said.
A mourning dove. Photo by Kathleen Scavone. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As we all practice social distancing and spend more time at home, we become ever more attuned to the nuances of our backyards and surroundings.
For example, the music of nature's wind song and the concurrent movement that creates swaying trees.
Now, wild iris, blue-eyed grass and native sunflowers are all showing up. Who can dispute that the cacophony of birdsong in the early morning hours known as the dawn chorus with its variety of cheeps, chirps, trills and twitters is not amazing?
This is the time of day when mainly the males of the bird species are attempting with all they've got to win a mate, claim their territory or protect their province.
One of nature's more beautiful bird songs is that of the mourning dove. Their song is a gentle coo, and can almost be described as poignant.
Since mourning doves are seed eaters, a pair is often seen near my backyard bird feeder after the blue jays, nuthatches, grosbeaks and house finches spill some tasty tidbits for their meal.
Mourning doves will occasionally consume wild grasses, berries, the occasional snail and other non-seed foodstuffs, but seeds are their food of choice.
While feeding on seed, the birds store the food in pouches located in their esophagus called a crop.
After the crop is full the doves take time to digest the seeds somewhere secluded from danger. If adult male or female doves have young, which are known as squabs, they will feed the digested seeds, or crop milk to their squabs since the young are unable to digest raw seeds themselves.
Both sexes sit on the nests prior to hatching to incubate the eggs in nests made haphazardly of grasses and twigs.
The plump-looking brownish-to-tan birds show black spots on their wings and a long, elegant tail. This species of dove is found all across America.
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology another bird in their family, the non-native Eurasian collared-dove is colonizing North America rapidly and may be affecting the native mourning dove populations.
Mourning doves have an extended cultural history affiliated with peace, and celebrations such as weddings and other holidays.
The eastern mourning dove has a starring role as both Michigan and Wisconsin's state symbol of peace.
According to the book, “Pomo Myths” by S.A. Barrett, Dove has a featured part in the Pomo Indian myth called “The Theft of the Sun,” which takes place in Scotts Valley and also features Blue Jay, Lizard, Crow and Buzzard.
North American poets Robert Bly, Jared Carter, Lorine Niedecker and Charles Wright have all incorporated mourning doves into their poetry.
For more information on mourning doves and other birds, and to become involved in citizen science projects, visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Nest Watch site at https://nestwatch.org/ .
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, freelance writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.”
NASA Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, above, confers with Senior NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding, left, and Test, Launch and Recovery Operations Branch Chief Jeremy Graeber in Firing Room 1 at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center during a countdown simulation. Credits: NASA/Cory Huston. Before NASA’s mighty Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket can blast off from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center to send the Orion spacecraft into lunar orbit, teams across the country conduct extensive testing on all parts of the system.
Guiding that effort at the Florida spaceport are NASA test directors, or NTDs.
NTDs within the Exploration Ground Systems program are in charge of flight and ground hardware testing in Kennedy’s Launch Control Center firing rooms 1 and 2, where activities involved with preparing rockets, spacecraft and payloads for space can be controlled from computer terminals. They are responsible for emergency management actions, helping lead the launch team during all facets of testing, launch and recovery.
NASA’s Artemis missions will land American astronauts on the Moon by 2024, beginning with Artemis I, the uncrewed flight test of SLS and Orion.
“It’s certainly an amazing feeling to be responsible for setting up the building blocks of a new program which will eventually take us to the Moon, Mars and beyond,” said Senior NASA Test Director Danny Zeno.
Zeno is leading the development of test plans and procedures that are essential to flight and ground hardware for the Artemis missions.
This includes proving the functionality of flight and ground systems for the assembled launch vehicle configuration, verifying the mobile launcher arms and umbilicals operate as expected at launch, and performing a simulated launch countdown with the integrated vehicle in the Vehicle Assembly Building.
The 14-year NTD veteran relishes his hands-on role in successfully testing and launching SLS — the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built.
“It’s very fulfilling,” Zeno said. “What excites me about the future is that the work I’m doing today is contributing to someday having humans living and working on other planets.”
There are 18 people in the NTD office — all of whom must undergo rigorous certification training in the management and leadership of test operations, systems engineering and emergency response. They are in charge of the people, hardware and schedule during active firing room testing.
“The NTD office is at the center of testing operations, which will ensure that we are ready to fly the Artemis missions,” said Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson. “As we lay the foundation for exploring our solar system, the NASA test directors are on the front lines of making it happen.”
An NTD works from a console in the firing room during integrated or hazardous testing, guiding the team through any contingency or emergency operations.
Senior NASA Test Director Danny Zeno is leading the development of test plans and procedures that are essential to flight and ground hardware for the Artemis missions. Credits: NASA. They lead critical testing on Launch Pad 39B and the mobile launcher, the 370-foot-tall, 11 million-pound steel structure that will launch the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft on Artemis missions to the Moon and on to Mars.
This includes sound suppression, fire suppression and cryogenic fluid flow tests, as well as testing the crew access arm and umbilicals — connections that will provide communications, coolant and fuel up until launch.
While the majority of work for the ground and flight systems is pre-liftoff, the job certainly doesn’t end there.
“It culminates in a two-day launch countdown in which all of the groups, teams and assets are required to function together in an almost flawless performance to get us to launch,” said Senior NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding.
Spaulding has nearly three decades of experience in the Test, Launch and Recovery Office. For Artemis I, he is leading the launch control team and support teams during the launch countdown for Blackwell-Thompson, who will oversee the countdown and liftoff of SLS.
Just over three miles from the launch pad, on launch day, Spaulding will be in the firing room running the final portion of cryogenic loading through launch. During this time, supercool propellants — called cryogenics — are loaded into the vehicle's tanks. He will perform the same tasks for the wet dress rehearsal, which is a full practice countdown about two months before launch that includes fueling the tanks and replicating everything done for launch prior to main engine start.
At the end of the mission, part of the team will lead the recovery efforts aboard a Navy vessel after Orion splashdown.
The NASA recovery director and supporting NTDs are responsible for planning and carrying out all operations to recover the Orion capsule onto a U.S. Navy ship.
This includes working closely with the Department of Defense to ensure that teams coordinate recovery plans, meet requirements, and follow timelines and procedures to bring our heroes and spacecraft home quickly and safely.
“We are supported by numerous teams at Kennedy and elsewhere around the country that are helping us with our historic first flight as we blaze a path toward landing astronauts on the Moon in 2024,” Spaulding said.
Jim Cawley works for NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Senior NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding has nearly three decades of experience in the Test, Launch and Recovery Office. Credits: NASA/Cory Huston.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced a series of initiatives to support vulnerable older Californians who are isolating at home during California's stay at home order.
California is launching a first-in-the-nation meal delivery program, a partnership to make wellness check-in calls, and the expansion of Friendship Line California to help combat social isolation.
These actions will support the approximately 1.2 million Californians over the age of 65 who live alone.
“The most important way for older Californians to stay safe is to stay at home,” said Gov. Newsom. “These programs will provide older, vulnerable Californians with access to nutritious meals in the safety of their homes and the opportunity to connect with someone who can listen to their concerns and make sure their needs are met. We are all in this together and we will continue to support older Californians who are more at risk during this public health emergency.”
“Older adults are heroes for being the first Californians to stay at home and save lives. However, they may be struggling to access food and with the mental health implications of isolation. These programs will make sure our older friends, family, and neighbors have access to the food and friendship they need," said Director of the California Department of Aging Kim McCoy Wade.
Restaurants Deliver: Home Meals for Seniors
This first-in-the-nation program will ensure vulnerable older Californians have consistent access to nutritious meals while staying safe at home.
The Restaurants Deliver: Home Meals for Seniors program will enlist community restaurants to prepare meals that will be delivered to older Californians who are isolating at home during California's stay at home order.
The program will also support local restaurant workers and owners who have lost business during the pandemic.
The program will be administered by local authorities and will serve older Californians who are ineligible for other nutrition programs.
The administration will keep updated information on the COVID-19 website on which localities are participating.
Social Bridging Project
The Social Bridging Project will mobilize more than 1,000 callers to proactively reach out to older Californians who are isolating at home.
The project will combat social isolation through direct, one-on-one communication with older Californians, many living alone and isolated.
Listos California is partnering with the California Department of Aging, United Airlines, Community Emergency Response Teams, or CERT, and Sacramento State University to make calls to older Californians.
Callers will check on the individual's well-being, connect them to resources, and connect with them on a personal level.
Friendship Line California: 1-888-670-1360
California is expanding Friendship Line California to support lonely and isolated older Californians across the state. Friendship Line California is toll-free and available to provide emotional support to older Californians facing loneliness, isolation and anxiety.
The California Department of Aging is partnering with the Institute on Aging to support this effort.
Friday’s announcements build on previous actions to support older Californians isolating at home.
Gov. Newsom previously announced the “Stay Home. Save Lives. Check In.” campaign to help combat social isolation among older Californians. The campaign urges all Californians to check in on their older neighbors with a call, text or physically-distanced door knock.
Californians are also encouraged to join the #CaliforniansForAll initiative by signing up at CalifornainsForAll.ca.gov. #CaliforniansForAll unites organizations in desperate need of volunteers with Californians looking to serve and share their commitment to their neighbors, while ensuring stay-at-home and physical distancing protocols are met.
The initiative will focus on recruiting younger Californians to help the most vulnerable throughout the state, including older Californians who are at higher risk of serious illness due to COVID-19.
Visit www.covid19.ca.gov for critical steps Californians can take to stay healthy, and resources available to those impacted by the outbreak.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council will hold a special meeting this week to consider extending an urgency ordinance that instituted a temporary moratorium on tenant evictions during the COVID-19 emergency, and to discuss equipment lease and purchasing agreements.
The council will meet virtually at 9 a.m. Monday, April 27.
Because of the county’s shelter in place order, Clearlake City Hall remains closed to the public, however, the virtual meeting will be broadcast live on Lake County PEG TV’s YouTube Channel.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . You can also visit the city’s new town hall site and submit written comments at https://www.opentownhall.com/8638. Identify the subject you wish to comment on in your email’s subject line or in your town hall submission.
Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.
On Monday the council will present a proclamation declaring April 12 to 18 as Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week.
Business items on the Monday agenda include consideration of extending or repealing Urgency Ordinance 239-2020 relating to a temporary moratorium on residential tenant evictions during COVID-19 emergency. The council first adopted the ordinance on March 19.
Also on Monday, the council will consider authorizing tax-exempt lease/purchase agreements for a 2021 Kenworth water truck and a 2021 Kenworth 10-yard dump truck. Monthly payments will total $7,098.49.
The trucks are needed to replace city equipment that’s no longer compliant with air quality requirements.
The council also will consider authorizing the purchase of two trailer-mounted, emergency 70KW generators with funds from the 2019 CalOES grant the city received earlier this year. The two trailers together will cost $126,500.
In other business, the council will hold a public hearing regarding the proposed sale of several former Redevelopment Agency properties located at 36th Avenue.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items that are not considered controversial and are usually adopted on a single vote – is the adoption of Resolution No. 2020-18, the designation of applicant’s agent for non-state agencies.
This article has been updated to add the information on the 36th Avenue properties.
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. – Health officials in Lake and neighboring counties this week continued to make modifications to shelter in place orders, with some jurisdictions loosening rules and others adding restrictions as they seek to limit the spread of COVID-19.
On Thursday, Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace issued an addendum to his shelter in place order that allowed individuals and certain businesses to resume “some relatively low-risk activities while observing social distancing, and gathering in groups no larger than two.”
The wording of that order led to some confusion. It went into effect on April 23 and said it expires on June 1, leading some community members to conclude the entire shelter in place order had been extended.
Pace said in a Friday clarification that the shelter in place order’s expiration date remains May 3.
However, he added, “An extension of the order and/or updated orders will be forthcoming. The term of the order and its restrictions will depend on modifications that the governor makes to the state orders, and will also be based on the trajectory of the infection in Lake and neighboring counties.”
As of Friday night, Lake’s confirmed COVID-19 cases remained at six, while neighboring Mendocino County had seen its cases rise to 11 – more than doubling – over the previous day.
Other neighboring counties reported the following totals: Colusa, three; Glenn, five; Napa, 58 cases, two deaths; Sonoma, 217 cases, two deaths; and Yolo County, 157 cases, 13 deaths.
Statewide, more than 41,000 cases and 1,600 deaths were confirmed as of Friday by county departments.
On Friday Pace issued another addendum that also clarified the status of boating and fishing in Lake County.
The Friday addendum gives limited permissions for boating and fishing that apply to all city and county public waterways in Lake County.
Pace said fishing is allowed from the shoreline only – no fishing from boats is permitted – and swimming in waterways also is not permitted.
“We understand the orders have severely affected people and businesses, and have sought to take reasonable, evidence-based action to promote public health throughout the COVID-19 crisis,” Pace said Friday. “We will continue to monitor all available indicators of COVID-19 activity, and consider reintroduction of further activities, as appropriate. Again, activities will be reintroduced gradually, in the interest of public health.”
Neighboring counties update shelter in place orders
Pace has so far not required facial coverings but said that could be a requirement in the future.
Other counties around the region have taken different approaches to the question of facial coverings and also have varying end dates for their shelter in place orders.
Sonoma’s shelter in place order, like Lake’s, is in effect until May 3.
On Wednesday, Napa County issued an updated shelter in place order that is in effect until further action by the Public Health officer.
It included a “strong recommendation” that community members wear face coverings when in public or in shared spaces but didn’t make them mandatory.
That order loosened some restrictions, allowing for construction activities, real estate agent-client residential viewings, drive-in religious services with proper physical distancing, landscaping and gardening maintenance, and the use of golf courses and driving ranges.
On Thursday, Yolo County issued a new health order that requires everyone to wear a nonmedical facial covering in public, beginning on April 27.
Yolo’s shelter in place order continues through May 1.
On Friday, Mendocino County Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan issued a fourth revised shelter in place order that will remain in effect until May 10.
As part of that order, a new rule will begin at noon on May 1 that requires the use of facial coverings when in public as an additional measure to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Mendocino County. Exceptions are for children under 2 and those for whom it is not advised for health-related reasons. Facial coverings are recommended but optional for children ages 2 to 12.
“Facial covering orders are being widely adopted across California to help protect against asymptomatic spread of COVID-19,” Doohan said. “Wearing facial coverings in public combined with social distancing practices and sheltering in place are powerful weapons against COVID-19 and are helping prepare our community for limited reopening of activities in May.”
The new order also lessens some restrictions, including allowing for outdoor recreation to be initiated from within a 20-mile drive of one’s residence and permitting live-streaming of events that include singing and similar activities provided that venues take protective measures to mitigate COVID-19 transmission.
Colusa County’s shelter in place order remains in effect through May 8 and Glenn has implemented the state’s stay at home order, which so far doesn’t have a timeline for ending.
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.
A colorful image resembling a cosmic version of an undersea world teeming with stars is being released to commemorate the Hubble Space Telescope's 30 years of viewing the wonders of space. In the Hubble portrait, the giant red nebula (NGC 2014) and its smaller blue neighbor (NGC 2020) are part of a vast star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 163,000 light-years away. The image is nicknamed the "Cosmic Reef," because NGC 2014 resembles part of a coral reef floating in a vast sea of stars. Some of the stars in NGC 2014 are monsters. The nebula's sparkling centerpiece is a grouping of bright, hefty stars, each 10 to 20 times more massive than our Sun. The seemingly isolated blue nebula at lower left (NGC 2020) has been created by a solitary mammoth star 200,000 times brighter than our Sun. The blue gas was ejected by the star through a series of eruptive events during which it lost part of its outer envelope of material. Credits: NASA, ESA and STScI. NASA is celebrating the Hubble Space Telescope's 30 years of unlocking the beauty and mystery of space by unveiling a stunning new portrait of a firestorm of starbirth in a neighboring galaxy.
In this Hubble portrait, the giant red nebula (NGC 2014) and its smaller blue neighbor (NGC 2020) are part of a vast star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 163,000 light-years away. The image is nicknamed the "Cosmic Reef," because it resembles an undersea world.
Thirty years ago, on April 24, 1990, Hubble was carried aloft from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the space shuttle Discovery, along with a five-astronaut crew. Deployed into Earth orbit a day later, the telescope opened a new eye onto the cosmos that has been transformative for our civilization.
Hubble is revolutionizing modern astronomy, not only for scientists, but also by taking the public on a wondrous journey of exploration and discovery. Hubble's never-ending, breathtaking celestial snapshots provide a visual shorthand for Hubble's top scientific achievements.
Unlike any space telescope before it, Hubble made astronomy relevant, engaging and accessible for people of all ages. The space telescope's iconic imagery has redefined our view of the universe and our place in time and space.
"Hubble has given us stunning insights about the universe, from nearby planets to the farthest galaxies we have seen so far," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. "It was revolutionary to launch such a large telescope 30 years ago, and this astronomy powerhouse is still delivering revolutionary science today. Its spectacular images have captured the imagination for decades, and will continue to inspire humanity for years to come."
Unencumbered by Earth's blurring atmosphere, the space observatory unveils the universe in unprecedented crystal-clear sharpness across a broad range of wavelengths, from ultraviolet to near-infrared light.
Download this video in HD formats from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio Hubble's top accomplishments include measuring the expansion and acceleration rate of the universe; finding that black holes are common among galaxies; characterizing the atmospheres of planets around other stars; monitoring weather changes on planets across our solar system; and looking back in time across 97% of the universe to chronicle the birth and evolution of stars and galaxies.
Hubble has yielded to date 1.4 million observations and provided data that astronomers around the world have used to write more than 17,000 peer-reviewed scientific publications, making it the most prolific space observatory in history. Its archival data alone will fuel future astronomy research for generations to come.
Hubble's longevity can be attributed to five space shuttle servicing missions, from 1993 to 2009, in which astronauts upgraded the telescope with advanced instruments, new electronics and on-orbit repairs. The venerable observatory, with its suite of cameras and other instruments, is expected to stay operational through the 2020s, in synergy with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (the European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.
