LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has eight dogs ready for their forever homes this week.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of German shepherd, husky, Labrador retriever, mastiff and pit bull.
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”).
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
This 1-year-old male German shepherd is in kennel No. 12, ID No. LCAC-A-1892. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. 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.
This 5-year-old female chocolate Labrador retriever-pit bull mix is in kennel No. 13, ID No. LCAC-A-1769. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Labrador-pit bull mix
This 5-year-old female chocolate Labrador retriever-pit bull mix has a short chocolate-colored coat.
She is in kennel No. 13, ID No. LCAC-A-1769.
This 3-year-old female mastiff is in kennel No. 15, ID No. LCAC-A-1868. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female mastiff
This 3-year-old female mastiff has a short brindle coat.
She is in kennel No. 15, ID No. LCAC-A-1868.
This 1-year-old male husky is in kennel No. 16, ID No. LCAC-A-2190. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male husky
This 1-year-old male husky has a black and white coat with bright blue eyes.
He is in kennel No. 16, ID No. LCAC-A-2190.
“Snuffy” is a 1-year-old black Labrador retriever mix in kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-2152. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Snuffy’
“Snuffy” is a 1-year-old black Labrador retriever mix.
He is in kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-2152.
This 2-year-old male German shepherd is in kennel No. 26, ID No. LCAC-A-1903. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. 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.
This 2-year-old male shepherd mix is in kennel No. 28, ID No. LCAC-A-1743. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male shepherd mix
This 2-year-old male shepherd mix has a short black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 28, ID No. LCAC-A-1743.
This female German shepherd is in kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-2169. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female German shepherd
This female German shepherd has a black coat.
She is in kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-2169.
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.
With the holiday season underway and people visiting family and friends, the California Department of Public Health is urging Californians to get the influenza vaccine to protect their health, and the health of others, during this flu season.
For Californians who still haven't had the COVID-19 vaccine or are due for their booster, the flu vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine can be given on the same day.
CDPH said influenza is increasing around the country, especially among young adults and children, who commonly spread the disease. The number of cases tends to increase during this time of year.
National survey data show lower vaccination rates for children and pregnant people this year as compared with last year leaving them unprotected and more vulnerable to serious flu illness.
“We continue to see the positive impact vaccines have on our collective and individual health and well-being,” said Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer. “There are many reasons to get vaccinated this season, but the best ones are to keep yourself and loved ones healthy.”
Flu vaccinations in Lake County this year are slightly down compared with last year, according to information provided by Jen Baker, interim deputy director for Lake County Health Services.
Baker reported that from July 1 to date, there have been 10,841 flu vaccinations in Lake County.
Flu vaccinations received in Lake County for the same time period last year totaled 11,611, Baker said.
CDPH recommends the annual flu vaccination for everyone 6 months of age and older. Getting vaccinated against the flu is especially important for people at high-risk of severe disease and hospitalization, including:
• People 65 years and older. • People who smoke or have underlying medical conditions like diabetes, heart disease, asthma, lung disease, neurological disorders and weakened immune systems. • Pregnant women and children under five years of age. • Caregivers and residents in long-term care facilities. • Essential workers who encounter others outside their homes or at higher risk because of their occupation.
CDPH encourages Californians to contact their health care provider, physician's office, or clinic about getting the flu vaccine. Adults and children may also get immunized at the pharmacy where they generally pick up their prescriptions. Pharmacies accept most insurance, including Medi-Cal. Some local health departments may offer low- or no-cost flu immunizations.
If you still haven’t had the COVID-19 vaccine or are due for a booster, the flu vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine can be given on the same day. The state’s My Turn website can be used to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments, and also allows Californians to schedule their flu vaccination or find a walk-in clinic.
Besides getting immunized, you can also take preventive actions:
• Continue wearing a mask when recommended or required in high-risk settings. • Stay away from people who are sick. • Stay home when sick for at least 24 hours after symptoms go away. • Cough or sneeze into your elbow, arm, or disposable tissue. If you use a disposable tissue, use hand sanitizer, or wash your hands afterward. • Wash hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lakeport Unified School Board on Thursday night voted to ask the state not to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for its students and staff.
The action makes Lakeport Unified the third Lake County district to take such action over the last two days, all involving a similarly worded resolution being shared among the districts.
It came hours after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine boosters for 16- and 17-year-olds.
The resolution specifically addresses Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Oct. 1 announcement that he would mandate that the COVID-19 vaccine be added to the list of required vaccinations for students to have for in-person instruction, and that school employees also would be required to be vaccinated.
Newsom’s action made California the first state in the nation to announce vaccine requirements for schools.
A month later, the CDC recommended the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
State health officials reported that California’s K-12 safety measures have helped keep schools open. While California is home to 12% of school students in the United States, it has accounted for less than 1% of the nation’s school closures.
In Lake County, no school closures have been reported, which also has been credited to stringent safety policies.
On Wednesday evening, the Lucerne Elementary School Board approved its version of the resolution, said Superintendent/Principal Mike Brown.
Middletown Unified’s board will consider a resolution opposing the vaccine mandate at its regular board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 15, Superintendent Tim Gill told Lake County News.
Kelseyville Unified and Upper Lake Unified both have final regular meetings for the year scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 14.
Kelseyville Unified has not responded to questions about whether it plans to consider a resolution opposing the vaccine mandate and its agenda had not been posted as of Thursday night.
In Upper Lake, where the agenda was available on Thursday, it did not include such a resolution.
Lake County News asked the California Department of Public Health if the agency had received requests from other school districts similar to those being made by local districts.
As of early December, CDPH said it is aware of communication from six districts — out of 1,037 statewide — requesting changes or modifications to the COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
“At a time when COVID-19 case rates remain at concerning levels, we must do everything to protect our kids — now is not the time to let our guard down, especially as the winter months approach and many students remain unvaccinated. California already requires students to be vaccinated against viruses like measles, mumps and rubella — there’s no reason COVID-19 should be treated any differently. Our K-12 safety measures have resulted in California leading national trends in preventing school closures due to outbreaks and keeping students in-person,” the agency said in a statement released to Lake County News.
School board discusses resolution, receives public comment
Ahead of taking up the resolution on Thursday night, Lakeport Unified’s board selected its new leadership for the coming year, electing Phil Kirby as president and Carly Alvord as clerk.
About 15 people were in the audience in the small district office meeting room to hear the discussion, with nearly two dozen more attending via Zoom. Ten people commented on the resolution, with seven of those questioning mandating the vaccine and the science behind COVID-19 safety measures, raising issues of government overreach and making comparisons to segregation.
Three spoke about the need to protect the community and follow the science, and maintaining that the vaccines are safe and effective. One woman castigated the board for taking up the resolution, contending they were putting their employees and the community at risk.
Trustee Jennifer Hanson said she didn’t think the resolution was necessary, that the state was going to do what it wanted to do. For parents who are concerned, she said they should be talking to state legislators.
Hanson, who said she had gotten quite a few emails from people opposed to the resolution, said she opposed it, too, explaining that she believes the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the concerns.
She also asked for a minor addition to the resolution’s language, that “some” be added to the 11th paragraph so that it would read, “Some Lakeport Unified School District parents have expressed concern regarding the unknown long-term impacts of the COVID-19 vaccine on children and their development.” The board unanimously approved that addition.
Superintendent Matt Bullard emphasized that the resolution was ahead of there actually being a vaccination requirement in place at the state level.
He said the district is in favor of not having a mandate, adding, “There is not an existing requirement,” either for students or staff.
Bullard said the resolution is asking the state not to simply rely on only one strategy — a mandate — to increase vaccination rates and participation.
Since the governor’s Oct. 1 announcement, Bullard said legislators have gotten in on the conversation.
If the governor’s mandate goes through, Bullard said there will be a personal belief exemption. If the Legislature gets involved and creates a mandate, that personal belief exemption can be removed. The Legislature reconvenes in January.
During the discussion, an audience member asked if independent study would be available if the state enforces the mandate.
“The real answer is, we’ll see what they come up with,” Bullard said.
Board member Dan Buffalo explained that the board was saying with the resolution that it sees a risk and there are negative consequences if the state moves in this mandate direction. “I don’t want to risk not having students in the classroom.”
Buffalo wanted to make another edit to the resolution to strongly encourage parents, students and employees to get vaccinated, but other board members disagreed with it and would not add the language. Kirby noted the resolution already said the district would continue partnering with Public Health.
Even without the change, Buffalo said he supported the resolution because he believes the mandate will do more harm than good
Board members Alvord, Buffalo, Kirby and Jennifer Williams-Richardson voted to pass the resolution, with Hanson voting no.
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.
In this new citizen science project, participants will help identify bursts of plasma coming off the Sun, called solar jets, in thousands of images captured over the last 11 years by NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory. Image credit: NASA.
If you ever wanted to be an astronomer, now is your chance. A new citizen science project, led by researchers at the University of Minnesota with support from NASA, allows volunteers to play an important role in learning more about the Sun by using their personal computers.
Participants will help identify bursts of plasma coming off the Sun, called solar jets, in thousands of images captured over the last 11 years by NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory.
The project, called Solar Jet Hunter, is the newest citizen science project under the Zooniverse platform originated at the University of Minnesota. Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular people-powered online research platform with more than two million volunteers from around the world. These volunteers act as armchair scientists and archivists helping academic research teams with their projects from the comfort of their own homes.
In this project, citizen scientists will detect solar jets by looking at short movies made from a sequence of still images. They decide if a solar jet is visible in any of the movies and provide information about the jets by annotating the images where solar jets are found.
By building a database of solar jets, the volunteers help narrow down the vast amount of data about the Sun to the most important information for further review by solar researchers.
Solar Jet Hunter is the newest citizen science project under the Zooniverse platform. In this project, citizen scientists will detect solar jets by looking at short movies made from a sequence of still images. They decide if a solar jet is visible in any of the movies and provide information about the jets by annotating the images where solar jets are found. Credit: Solar Jet Hunter, Zooniverse
“These solar jets are sort of like a million hydrogen bombs going off on the star that’s actually not that far away from us, so it is important that we try to understand more about how that happens,” said Lindsay Glesener, a University of Minnesota associate professor of physics and astronomy. “But with our small research team, it would probably take a decade or more to look through all these images ourselves so we’re asking for help.”
The team decided that the project would be perfect for the Zooniverse citizen science platform.
“Solar jets are very difficult to identify in any sort of automatic way,” said Sophie Musset, a research fellow at the European Space Agency and former University of Minnesota postdoctoral researcher who is leading the Solar Jet Hunter project. “You can’t just write a piece of code that will tell the computer to search and find all of the solar jets, but it's very easy to see with human eyes.”
Musset and Glesener said the information they get from the citizen scientists will not only be used to study the Sun but will also help to write a computer algorithm that could speed future identification of solar jets by combining computer help with human expertise.
Glesener also said that the University of Minnesota was the perfect place for solar research and citizen science to come together.
“We have both the expertise in studying solar jets and the Zooniverse team here at the University of Minnesota,” Glesener said. “You can’t just throw some random images up on a website and expect that you're going to get the information from the citizen scientists that you need. It takes people who really know how to make it work.”
Lucy Fortson, a fellow University of Minnesota physics and astronomy professor and one of the founders of the Zooniverse platform, is one of those experts.
“While Zooniverse has been involved in all kinds of citizens projects from the humanities to biology, this project brings us back to our astrophysics roots,” Fortson said. “Our partnership with NASA and the Adler Planetarium has expanded our capacity to take on important projects like this one and increased the acceptance of citizen science as a valid research methodology within the scientific community. This is real proof that citizen science has come of age as a research tool.”
In addition to Musset, Glesener, and Fortson, the Solar Jet Hunter international research team includes co-investigators Gregory Fleishman, a professor in the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research at the New Jersey Institute of Technology; and Navdeep Panesar, a research scientist at Lockheed Martin Solar & Astrophysics Laboratory and Bay Area Environmental Research Institute.
Other members of the team include Erik Ostlund, a Zooniverse web developer at the University of Minnesota; Suhail Alnahari, a data scientist in the University of Minnesota’s School of Physics and Astronomy; University of Minnesota graduate students Yixian Zhang and Charlie Kapsiak; Mariana Jeunon, graduate student at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; and Paloma Jol, a master student at Leiden University in The Netherlands.
The Solar Jet Hunter citizen science project is funded by NASA under the Heliophysics Guest Investigators program, and has supported students under a U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER grant.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The city of Lakeport announced this week that it has completed an updated emergency evacuation map.
The city completed the map’s latest version with the assistance of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The map includes color-coded zones, with each zone containing the ZoneHaven identification.
Officials said the map also is geo-spatially referenced, which allows users to locate themselves without the need of Internet, wi-fi or other network connections, just their mobile device's built-in GPS service. This is especially helpful for users of GeoPDF applications such as Avenza and Global Mapper.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Lake County Vet Connect Volunteers will host a quarterly mobile Stand Down, an outreach event for local veterans who are homeless or experiencing uncertain housing.
The event will take place Wednesday, Dec. 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the American Legion Post 437, 14770 Austin Road in Clearlake.
The Stand Down offers immediate intervention support in the form of supplies and housing, employment services and other community resource information. A hot lunch will be provided.
Veterans must provide their ID card or DD Form 214.
Resources will be provided covering a variety of topics including veterans’ services, housing and homeless assistance, employment, legal consultations, medical insurance counseling, advance care planning, behavioral health, employment assistance, and more.
Representatives from regional veterans’ services and many local organizations will be present to meet with veterans attending the Stand Down.
In the military, “Stand Down” afforded battle-weary soldiers the opportunity to renew their spirit, enjoy warm meals, receive medical and dental care, mail and receive letters, and enjoy the camaraderie of friends in a safe environment.
Today, “Stand Down” refers to a grassroots, community-based intervention program designed to help the nation’s homeless veterans “combat” life on the streets.
Homeless veterans are brought together in a single location and are provided access to the community resources needed to begin addressing their individual problems and start rebuilding their lives.
The Lake County Veterans Council asks the public to spread the word regarding the event so that local homeless or near homeless veterans can be reached and may benefit from the assistance available.
The Veterans Stand Down will follow protocols recommended by the Lake County Public Health Department to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Masks are required and will be provided.
For more information, contact Bob Hopkins at 707-350-1411 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For updates, visit the Vet Connect Hookup Hub on Facebook.
Janine Smith-Citron is development director for Hospice Services of Lake County.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A semi rollover on Saturday morning resulted in a fatality and caused a milk and diesel spill near a creek.
The California Highway Patrol first received reports of the crash shortly after 6:30 a.m. Saturday on Highway 20 about four miles west of Walker Ridge Road, east of Clearlake Oaks.
The semi tank truck had gone over the side of the highway and initially was not visible from the roadway, the CHP reported.
When authorities accessed the truck, they confirmed a fatality, shortly before 7:30 a.m., according to reports from the scene.
CHP separately issued a notification just before 8 a.m. confirming a fatality, and reporting that Highway 20 west of Walker Ridge Road was open but impacted by emergency traffic as work at the crash site continued. The agency asked drivers at that time to use caution or take an alternate route of travel.
The early scene reports stated that the tanker appeared to be carrying a load of milk and that the crash resulted in milk going into Grizzly Creek.
Reports also estimated that up to 100 gallons of diesel fuel could have been spilled had the truck’s fuel tanks been full.
Fish and Game and the Office of Emergency Services were requested due to the hazmat concerns, according to CHP reports.
The recovery efforts required heavy equipment, with two wreckers responding but other assistance needed to remove the fuel.
The CHP also reported challenges with recovery due to the crash being on a blind curve on the highway.
The work to remove the semi continued into the afternoon and evening, the CHP said.
Radio reports stated that the hazmat team cleared the scene at 5 p.m.
At 6:40 p.m., the CHP reported that all lanes of the highway were open and the incident had been cleared.
Additional information will be published as it becomes available.
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.
During the pandemic, video calls became a way for me to connect with my aunt in a nursing home and with my extended family during holidays. Zoom was how I enjoyed trivia nights, happy hours and live performances. As a university professor, Zoom was also the way I conducted all of my work meetings, mentoring and teaching.
But I often felt drained after Zoom sessions, even some of those that I had scheduled for fun. Several well-known factors – intense eye contact, slightly misaligned eye contact, being on camera, limited body movement, lack of nonverbal communication – contribute to Zoom fatigue. But I was curious about why conversation felt more laborious and awkward over Zoom and other video-conferencing software, compared with in-person interactions.
The first experiment found that response times to prerecorded yes/no questions more than tripled when the questions were played over Zoom instead of being played from the participant’s own computer.
The second experiment replicated the finding in natural, spontaneous conversation between friends. In that experiment, transition times between speakers averaged 135 milliseconds in person, but 487 milliseconds for the same pair talking over Zoom. While under half a second seems pretty quick, that difference is an eternity in terms of natural conversation rhythms.
We also found that people held the floor for longer during Zoom conversations, so there were fewer transitions between speakers. These experiments suggest that the natural rhythm of conversation is disrupted by videoconferencing apps like Zoom.
Cognitive anatomy of a conversation
I already had some expertise in studying conversation. Pre-pandemic, I conducted several experiments investigating how topic shifts and working memory load affect the timing of when speakers in a conversation take turns.
In that research, I found that pauses between speakers were longer when the two speakers were talking about different things, or if a speaker was distracted by another task while conversing. I originally became interested in the timing of turn transitions because planning a response during conversation is a complex process that people accomplish with lightning speed.
The average pause between speakers in two-party conversations is about one-fifth of a second. In comparison, it takes more than a half-second to move your foot from the accelerator to the brake while driving – more than twice as long.
The speed of turn transitions indicates that listeners don’t wait until the end of a speaker’s utterance to begin planning a response. Rather, listeners simultaneously comprehend the current speaker, plan a response and predict the appropriate time to initiate that response. All of this multitasking ought to make conversation quite laborious, but it is not.
Getting in sync
Brainwaves are the rhythmic firing, or oscillation, of neurons in your brain. These oscillations may be one factor that helps make conversation effortless. Severalresearchers have proposed that a neural oscillatory mechanism automatically synchronizes the firing rate of a group of neurons to the speech rate of your conversation partner. This oscillatory timing mechanism would relieve some of the mental effort in planning when to begin speaking, especially if it was combined with predictions about the remainder of your partner’s utterance.
While there are many open questions about how oscillatory mechanisms affect perception and behavior, there is directevidence for neural oscillators that track syllable rate when syllables are presented at regular intervals. For example, when you hear syllables four times a second, the electrical activity in your brain peaks at the same rate.
This acoustic spectrogram of the utterance ‘Do you think surfers are scared of being bitten by a shark?’ has an overlaid oscillatory function (blue wave). This shows that midpoints of most syllables (numbered hash marks) occur at or near the wave troughs, regardless of syllable length. The hash marks were generated with a Praat script written by deJong and Wempe.Julie Boland, CC BY-ND
There is also evidence that oscillators can accommodate some variability in syllable rate. This makes the notion that an automatic neural oscillator could track the fuzzy rhythms of speech plausible. For example, an oscillator with a period of 100 milliseconds could keep in sync with speech that varies from 80 milliseconds to 120 milliseconds per short syllable. Longer syllables are not a problem if their duration is a multiple of the duration for short syllables.
Internet lag is a wrench in the mental gears
My hunch was that this proposed oscillatory mechanism couldn’t function very well over Zoom due to variable transmission lags. In a video call, the audio and video signals are split into packets that zip across the internet. In our studies, each packet took around 30 to 70 milliseconds to travel from sender to receiver, including disassembly and reassembly.
While this is very fast, it adds too much additional variability for brainwaves to sync with speech rates automatically, and more arduous mental operations have to take over. This could help explain my sense that Zoom conversations were more fatiguing than having the same conversation in person would have been.
Our experiments demonstrated that the natural rhythm of turn transitions between speakers is disrupted by Zoom. This disruption is consistent with what would happen if the neural ensemble that researchers believe normally synchronizes with speech fell out of sync due to electronic transmission delays.
Our evidence supporting this explanation is indirect. We did not measure cortical oscillations, nor did we manipulate the electronic transmission delays. Research into the connection between neural oscillatory timing mechanisms and speech in general is promising but not definitive.
Researchers in the field need to pin down an oscillatory mechanism for naturally occurring speech. From there, cortical tracking techniques could show whether such a mechanism is more stable in face-to-face conversations than with video-conferencing conversations, and how much lag and how much variability cause disruption.
Could the syllable-tracking oscillator tolerate relatively short but realistic electronic lags below 40 milliseconds, even if they varied dynamically from 15 to 39 milliseconds? Could it tolerate relatively long lags of 100 milliseconds if the transmission lag were constant instead of variable?
The knowledge gained from such research could open the door to technological improvements that help people get in sync and make videoconferencing conversations less of a cognitive drag.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — To help Lake County residents prepare for and find the jobs they want, the Lake County Library is providing access to multiple online resources that provide job training, skill building, test preparation and professional development.
These services are provided through the California State Library CAreer Pathways program and are from some of the top online learning companies. They are accessible either at the public library or from home.
Access to these platforms normally comes with subscription and other fees. Thanks to funding from the State Library all are available for free through the Lake County Library.
The digital resources can be accessed on the Lake County Library website under services for job seekers. These resources include:
• Coursera is an online learning platform. Coursera features over 2,800 courses, focused on the most in-demand skills with 15 professional certificate programs.
• GetSetUp is a social learning platform for individuals 50+ and offers live online classes, social hours hosted by community members, and special events with speakers who directly address areas of interest for older adults.
• LinkedIN Learning has more than 5,000 on-demand courses taught by instructors with real world experience. Courses cover many business, creative, and technology topics in short lessons.
• Northstar Digital Literacy helps people learn computer basics through free online learning and assessments.
• LearningExpress from EBSCO helps people prepare for the ASVAB, SAT, AP exams, and career licensure tests through practice tests, tutorials, ebooks, articles and flashcards.
• Skillshare has thousands of online classes on topics including illustration, design, photography, freelancing and more.
Residents can learn more about the California State Library Career Pathways program on their website.
These projects were made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The National Weather Service said a winter storm will bring rain and mountain snow this weekend, with wet weather expected to impact the region through the middle of next week.
The agency’s Eureka office said that, as the cold front approaches, winds are expected to increase on Saturday, diminishing in the wake of the cold front on Saturday night.
In Lake County, rain is expected to start on Saturday evening, with less than a tenth of an inch during the day but up to three quarters of an inch on Saturday night.
There is the possibility of another inch of rain on Sunday.
On Monday, the forecast calls for as much as an inch and a half, the National Weather Services said.
The forecast expects more rain from Tuesday through Thursday, with specific amounts not predicted.
Temperatures over the coming week will hover in the high 40s during the day and the low 40s at night until Monday, when they will drop into the 30s and continue in that range through late in the week.
There also will be light winds in the evenings until Monday, when southwest winds of up to 17 miles per hour and gusts of up to 23 miles per hour, are forecast.
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.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know space is weird. But just how weird might surprise you.
Space is dominated by invisible electromagnetic forces that we typically don’t feel. It’s also full of bizarre types of matter that we never experience on Earth.
Here’s five unearthly things that happen almost exclusively in outer space.
1. Plasma
On Earth, matter typically assumes one of three states: solid, liquid, or gas. But in space, 99.9% of normal matter is in an entirely different form — plasma. Made of loose ions and electrons, this substance is in a supercharged state beyond gas that’s created when matter is heated to extreme temperatures or is plied with a strong electric current.
Although we rarely interact with plasma, we see it all the time. All the stars in the night sky, including the Sun, are mostly made of plasma. It even appears occasionally on Earth in the form of bolts of lightning and in neon signs.
In comparison to gas, where individual particles chaotically zoom about, plasma can act collectively, like a team. It both conducts electricity and is influenced by electromagnetic fields — which operate under the very same force that keeps magnets on your fridge. These fields can control the movements of charged particles in plasma and create waves that accelerate the particles to immense speeds.
Space is brimming with such invisible magnetic fields that shape the paths of plasma. Around Earth the same magnetic field that makes compasses point north directs plasma through the space around our planet.
On the Sun, magnetic fields launch solar flares and direct belches of plasma, known as the solar wind, that travel across the solar system. When the solar wind reaches Earth, it can drive energetic processes, like the auroras and space weather, which if strong enough, can damage satellites and telecommunications.
2. Extreme temperatures
From Siberia to the Sahara, Earth experiences an extensive range of temperatures. Records exist as high as 134°F and all the way down to -129°F (57°C to -89°C). But what we consider extreme on Earth is average in space. On planets without an insulating atmosphere, temperatures wildly fluctuate between day and night. Mercury regularly sees days around 840°F (449°C) and frigid nights as low as -275°F (-171°C).
And in space itself, some spacecraft experience temperature differences of 60°F (33°C) just between their sunlit and shady sides. That would be like having a glass of water in the shade freeze on a hot summer day! NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, at closest approach to the Sun, will experience differences over 2,000 degrees.
The satellites and instruments NASA sends into space are carefully designed to withstand these extremes. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spends the vast majority of its time in direct sunlight, but a few times a year, its orbit passes into Earth’s shadow.
During this cosmic conjunction, otherwise known as an eclipse, the temperature of the Sun-facing solar panels drops by 317°F (158°C). Onboard heaters, however, turn on to keep the electronics and instruments safe by permitting only a half a degree dip.
Similarly, astronaut suits are built to withstand temperatures from -250°F to 250°F (-157°C to 121°C). The suits are white to reflect light while in the sunshine, and heaters are placed throughout the inside to keep astronauts warm in the dark. They are also designed to provide consistent pressure and oxygen, and resist damage from micrometeorites and the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation.
3. Cosmic alchemy
Every second, the Sun fuses about 600 million metric tons of hydrogen. That’s the mass of 102 Great Pyramids of Giza, 1,812 Empire State Buildings, or nearly all of the fish on Earth by some estimates.
Right now, the Sun is squeezing hydrogen into helium at its core. This process of joining atoms together under immense pressure and temperature, forging new elements, is called fusion.
When the universe was born, it contained mostly hydrogen and helium, plus a dash of a couple other light elements. Fusion in stars and supernovae have since furnished the cosmos with more than 80 other elements, some of which make life possible.
The Sun and other stars are excellent fusion machines. Every second, the Sun fuses about 600 million metric tons of hydrogen — that’s the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza 102 times!
Along with the creation of new elements, fusion releases enormous amounts of energy and particles of light called photons. These photons take some 250,000 years to bump their way up the 434,000 miles (about 700,000 kilometers) to reach the Sun’s visible surface from the solar core. After that, the light only takes eight minutes to travel the 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) to Earth.
Fission, the opposite nuclear reaction that splits heavy elements into smaller ones, was first demonstrated in laboratories in the 1930s and is used today in nuclear power plants. The energy released in fission can create a cataclysmic bang. But for a given amount of mass, it’s still several times less than the energy created from fusion. However, scientists have not yet figured out how to control the plasma in a way to produce power from fusion reactions.
4. Magnetic explosions
Every day, the space around Earth booms with giant explosions. When the solar wind, the stream of charged particles from the Sun, pushes against the magnetic environment that surrounds and protects Earth — the magnetosphere — it tangles the Sun and Earth’s magnetic fields.
Eventually the magnetic field lines snap and realign, shooting away nearby charged particles. This explosive event is known as magnetic reconnection.
While we can’t see magnetic reconnection with our bare eyes, we can see its effects. Occasionally some of the perturbed particles pour into Earth’s upper atmosphere, where they spark the auroras.
Magnetic reconnection happens all across the universe wherever there are twisting magnetic fields. NASA missions like the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission measure reconnection events around Earth, which helps scientists understand reconnection where it’s harder to study, like in flares on the Sun, in areas surrounding black holes, and around other stars.
5. Supersonic shocks
On Earth, an easy way to transfer energy is to give something a push. This often happens through collisions, like when the wind causes trees to sway. But in outer space, particles can transfer energy without even touching. This strange transfer takes place in invisible structures known as shocks.
In shocks, energy is transferred through plasma waves and electric and magnetic fields. Imagine the particles as a flock of birds flying together. If a tail wind picks up and pushes the birds along, they fly faster even though it doesn’t look like anything is propelling them forward. Particles behave much the same way when they suddenly encounter a magnetic field. The magnetic field can essentially give them a boost forward.
Shock waves can form when things move at supersonic speeds — faster than the speed of sound, that is. If a supersonic flow encounters a stationary object, it forms what is known as a bow shock, not unlike the bow wave that’s created at the bow of a boat anchored in a swift stream. One such bow shock is created by the solar wind as it plows into Earth’s magnetic field.
Shocks show up elsewhere in space, like around active supernovae ejecting clouds of plasma. In rare cases, shocks can be temporarily created on Earth. This happens when bullets and planes travel faster than the speed of sound.
All five of these strange phenomena are common in space. Although some can be reproduced in special laboratory situations, they mostly can’t be found under normal circumstances here on Earth. NASA studies these weird things in space so scientists can analyze their properties, providing insight on the complex physics that underlies the workings of our universe.
Mara Johnson-Groh works for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has a big group of dogs of many breeds that are waiting to be adopted.
The City of Clearlake Animal Association also is seeking fosters for the animals waiting to be adopted.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
The newest dogs are listed at the top of the following list.
“Andy.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Andy’
“Andy” is a male American pit bull mix with a short gray and white coat.
He is dog No. 48995415.
“Arnold.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Arnold’
“Arnold” is a male American Staffordshire terrier mix with a short brindle coat with white markings.
He is dog No. 49029348.
“Bear.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Bear’
“Bear” is a male Labrador retriever-American pit bull mix with a short charcoal and fawn coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 48443153.
“Bella.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Bella’
“Bella” is a female American pit bull mix with a short gray brindle coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 48448381.
“Levi.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Levi’
“Levi” is a male golden retriever-Labrador retriever mix.
He has a short golden coat.
He is dog No. 48975687.
“Maria.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Maria’
“Maria” is a female Shar-Pei mix with a short tan coat.
She is dog No. 49047315.
“Mitzi.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Mitzi’
“Mitzi” is a female Australian cattle dog mix with a medium-length black and white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 48443306.
“Nala.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Nala’
“Nala” is a 1-year-old female German shepherd mix.
She has a medium-length black and tan coat.
She is dog No. 48289638.
“Sassy.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Sassy’
“Sassy” is a female American pit bull mix with a short black coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 48443128.
“Snowball.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Snowball’
“Snowball” is a male American Staffordshire mix terrier with a white coat.
He is dog No. 49159168.
“Tanisha.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Tanisha’
“Tanisha” is a female Australian cattle dog mix with a short red and white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 48443302.
“Terry.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Terry’
“Terry” is a male shepherd mix with a short brindle coat.
He is dog No. 48443693.
“Turk.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Turk’
“Turk” is a male chocolate Labrador retriever mix.
He is dog No. 48911836.
“Willie.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Willie’
“Willie” is a male Chihuahua mix with a short black coat and white markings.
He is dog No. 49141640.
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.
