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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will discuss the amenities for the Lakefront Park and possible budget adjustments to cover increased costs, and consider naming the city’s new walking path for a woman who has been instrumental in its creation.

The council will meet in closed session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, to discuss with legal counsel existing litigation, City of Lakeport et al. v. Amerisourcebergen Drug Corporation et al., before the public portion of the meeting begins at 6 p.m.

The meeting will be by teleconference only. The city council chambers will not be open to the public.

The agenda can be found here.

To speak on an agenda item, access the meeting remotely here or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799. The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.

Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the City Clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments prior to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Indicate in the email subject line "for public comment" and list the item number of the agenda item that is the topic of the comment. Comments that read to the council will be subject to the three minute time limitation (approximately 350 words). Written comments that are only to be provided to the council and not read at the meeting will be distributed to the council prior to the meeting.

On Tuesday, the council will consider approving the site plan and amenity features designed for the new Lakefront Park at 800 and 810 N. Main St. and discuss a budget adjustment to cover the costs for the park’s development.

In April, the city received a $5.9 million state grant to purchase the seven acres for the park and develop amenities including a promenade along the lakeshore, basketball court, ninja gym, amphitheater, splash pad, skate park, multiuse lawn area, large sheltered picnic area, bathroom/concession building, public art, parking lot, landscaping and lighting throughout the park and a dedicated area for the future boathouse.

City Manager Kevin Ingram reported that the city is working with SSA Landscape Architects, hired earlier this year, to aid in the planning, design, engineering and project management of the park. The city approved the park’s site plan in August.

“Shortly after that approval of the site plan, SSA began developing engineered project plans to be utilized for the construction of the project. As a result of various factors, most importantly
extremely high construction costs and unfavorable geotechnical issues, it was determined pretty quickly that the project as presented in August far exceeded the grant construction award amount of $4.5 million,” Ingram wrote in his report.

“Over the last several weeks SSA and City staff have conducted an in-depth value engineering process to get the project back within budget,” Ingram said.

As a result, several amenities saw a reduction in scope. Ingram said one option the staff is proposing is that the council consider using some general fund reserve monies to cover the cost of adding back some of the amenities and features that were either reduced or removed from the project.

The amenities that have been reduced in cost include the parking lot, lighting, splash pad, skate park, fitness area, restrooms/concessions, the picnic area, large shade shelter and shade sail, according to Ingram’s report.

He said the council can choose to add back some of those reductions. Use of general fund reserve monies could range up to $805,570.

“Following the approval of the revised site plan and budget by City Council, staff will continue to work closely with SSA Landscape Architects in the development of engineered construction level design plans for the project,” Ingram wrote. “Engineered construction level plans are expected to be completed and the project put out to bid for construction within the next few months.”

Also on Tuesday, Public Works Director Doug Grider will ask the council for approval on a resolution naming the downtown walking path “The Ann Blue Walking Path” in honor of Ann Blue.

Blue is credited with having played a key role in developing the walking path while a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Committee.

She is a longtime community volunteer, having also served on the Lakeport Planning Commission and the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee, among other organizations.

The council also will consider relocating the two 20-minute designated parking spaces adjacent to City Hall from Park Street to Second Street and adopt revisions to the Green Zones, or limited parking areas, and two-hour parking resolutions to reflect requested change.

On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the regular council meeting on June 16; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the Mendocino Complex fire; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the February 2019 storms; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the October 2019 public safety power shutoff; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the COVID-19 public health emergency; and adoption of the resolution accepting construction of the Spray Field Fence Replacement Project by Thompson Contracting and authorize the filing of the notice of completion.

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.
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Amaranth, native to South America, was cultivated by the Aztecs. Photo by Esther Oertel.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – I’ve adopted a new way of eating lately, and thanks to that, I’ve been enjoying a category of whole foods newly prominent in my meal planning – ancient grains.

Simply put, an ancient grain is one which has remained relatively unchanged through the millennia, free of the selective breeding that characterizes modern grains such as wheat, rice, and corn.

These grains include varieties of wheat (spelt, einkorn, emmer, farro and Khorasan wheat), grains (millet, barley, teff, sorghum and oats), and a category known as pseudocereals (buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa and chia).

Grains were first cultivated when prehistoric communities began to transition from hunting and gathering to farming more than 10,000 years ago.

While modern grains have been developed over time through mutation, selective cropping, breeding, and scientific research, ancient grains are largely the same as the domesticated varieties initially grown thousands of years ago.

For the environmentally conscious, it’s good to know that many ancient grains thrive with lower levels of pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation. (Of course, in my opinion, anything grown organically is better for us and the environment.)

If you’re watching your gluten intake, a good number of ancient grains are gluten-free. Amaranth, quinoa, millet, buckwheat and teff fall into this category.

While ancient forms of wheat do contain gluten, it exists in lower quantities than in current-day wheat and with a simpler structure than modern wheat gluten.

Packed with nutrition, ancient grains are rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants.

These grains originated in different parts of the world, each with their own culinary story. Some, like barley and oats, have long been part of our national food culture, while others (quinoa, chia, and amaranth, for example) have become popular here in more recent decades.

Let’s learn a little more about some of them.

Amaranth, which the Aztecs cultivated as long as 8,000 years ago, hails from South America. A grass grown for its edible starchy seeds, amaranth has a higher protein content than most grains. It also contains three times the average amount of calcium and is the only grain documented to contain vitamin C.

This hardy plant was an integral part of the Aztec’s religious ceremonies. Its cultivation was banned by the conquistadores upon their conquest of the Aztec nation, but since the plant has grown as a weed since then, its genetic base has been largely maintained.

Buckwheat was first cultivated in the Balkan region of Europe about 6,000 years ago and was one of the first crops grown by the early American settlers. Despite its name, buckwheat is not wheat (rather, it’s related to rhubarb), but pyramid-shaped fruit seeds. These seeds, known as buckwheat groats, are heart-healthy and are high in soluble fiber, which helps keep blood sugar levels steady.

Chia seeds were one of the main foods in the diet of the Aztecs, and their use was first recorded by them more than 5,000 years ago. They’re native to Mexico, Guatemala, and other parts of Central America, where they’ve long been a staple. Rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber, they have a gelatinous texture when soaked in liquid, which makes them perfect as a binder in gluten-free foods or as a component of vegan pudding.

Einkorn wheat is also known as farro piccolo in Italian or “littlespelt” in English, referring to the fact that each spikelet contains only one grain. It’s the world’s most primitive form of available wheat and is one of the first plants to be domesticated and cultivated. It was grown mainly in eastern areas of the Mediterranean. The name refers both to the wild and cultivated species.

Emmer, the ancient ancestor of modern wheat, is also known as farro medio. It was a primary crop in ancient Egypt and is said to have been the favorite wheat of Julius Caesar. Like einkorn wheat, emmer was one of the first crops cultivated in the Near East and was widely grown in the ancient world.

Farro is a term for three species of hulled wheat (that is, wheat that can’t be threshed) – spelt, emmer, and einkorn. Italians have dined on farro for centuries and it is believed to have fed Roman soldiers. Emmer is by far the most common variety of farro grown in Italy (it’s called “true farro” there) and spelt is more commonly grown in the northern European countries of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It has a nutty taste and a pleasantly chewy texture. I especially enjoy it in grain-based salads, particularly when the grains are toasted before cooking.

Khorasan wheat, known commercially as kamut, is an ancient relative of modern durum wheats and is believed to have originated in Mesopotamia. Khorasan refers to a historical region in what is now Afghanistan and Iran. The grain is twice the size of modern-day wheat and is extremely high in protein and rich in minerals. Because of its shape, it’s called “Camel’s Tooth” in Turkey. Another name, “Prophet’s Wheat,” is from a legend that Noah brought the grain with him on the ark.

Millet has its origins in India and Africa and was a main crop in those regions as long as 10,000 years ago. It continues to be most widely cultivated there. Evidence of millet and the tools used to harvest it have been found in ancient archaeological sites. This tiny grain is quite versatile and can be prepared like porridge, mashed like potatoes, fluffed like rice, or ground into flour. A nutritional powerhouse, millet is packed with vitamins and minerals.

Quinoa, a seed used like grain, originated in the Andes Mountains of South America. Its name means “mother grain” in Quechua, the language of the indigenous people there. Once cultivated solely by small farms in the Andean region, production has spread to more than 70 countries. Its wild popularity has caused crop prices to triple since 2006. Related to amaranth, the seeds are rich in protein, dietary fiber, minerals and B vitamins. Its proteins are more digestible than those of meat.

Spelt, also known as Dinkel wheat, was an important staple in parts of medieval Europe and has been cultivated for more than 7,000 years. Once widely grown, the grain fell out of favor and survived as a limited crop in Central Europe and northern Spain before gaining its recent popularity. Slightly sweet and nutty, nutrient-rich spelt is frequently consumed in Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. Spelt is commonly ground into flour for breads and other baked goods.

Teff is native to the grassy plains of Ethiopia and continues to be a staple there. Injera, a spongy, fermented Ethiopian flatbread, is made from its flour. At 150 times smaller than a single wheat kernel, teff is said to be the tiniest grain on Earth.

Fiber-rich and with a sweet, molasses-like flavor, teff is too small to husk, so is cooked whole. Teff easily melts into stews and gravies and is used as a thickening agent. Its name means “lost” in the Aramaic language due to the ease with which it can slip through one’s fingers.

Nutritious and versatile quinoa, once unknown in the United States, is now readily available in almost every supermarket. It’s the star of today’s recipe, a salad based on the grain with fresh vegetables and an herby vinaigrette.

For extra flavor, cook the quinoa in broth rather than water. Feel free to substitute whatever veggies you have on hand, as quinoa goes with almost anything!

Quinoa is native to the Andes Mountains of South America. Its name means "mother grain." Photo by Esther Oertel.


Quinoa salad with fresh vegetables

1 cup quinoa, well rinsed and drained
2 cups cold water
2 tomatoes, chopped
4 large sprigs Italian parsley, leaves only, chopped
¼ English cucumber, chopped
½ cup chopped bell pepper, any color, or a mixture of colors
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ tablespoon freshly chopped garden herbs

Bring quinoa and water to boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes until the white germ separates from the seed. Cover the pot, remove from heat, and let stand for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, let cool, and fluff with a fork.

In a large bowl, stir together tomatoes, parsley, cucumber, and bell pepper. Add cooled quinoa and stir.

Prepare the dressing in a bowl by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and herbs. Pour over salad and toss to coat.

Esther Oertel is a writer and passionate home cook from a family of chefs. She grew up in a restaurant, where she began creating recipes from a young age. She’s taught culinary classes in a variety of venues in Lake County and previously wrote “The Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News. Most recently she’s taught culinary classes at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa. She lives in Middletown.
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Daylight saving time ended on Sunday. The time change may disrupt sleep patterns and affect the ability to concentrate and safely operate a motor vehicle.

To highlight the life-threatening dangers of fatigued driving, the California Highway Patrol joins the Office of Traffic Safety, or OTS, the California Department of Transportation and the National Sleep Foundation in recognizing Drowsy Driving Prevention Week, Nov. 1 to 8, and encouraging Californians to stay alert and stay alive.

“Staying alert behind the wheel goes beyond avoiding distractions,” said CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley. “The other major contributor to driver inattention is drowsy driving. Fatigue can have a similar impairment effect as drugs or alcohol.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, being awake for at least 18 consecutive hours is the same as having a blood alcohol content of .05 percent. On average, in California, there are more than 6,000 crashes annually that are attributed to drowsy driving.

“If you’re feeling sleepy, you shouldn’t be driving,” OTS Director Barbara Rooney said. “When you ask yourself, ‘Am I OK to drive?’, the answer should factor in not only if you’ve been drinking or have taken drugs that impair, but also if you’ve had enough rest.”

“We should all remember that despite the pace of life, it’s vitally important to avoid driving when fatigued or without adequate rest,” said Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin. “Caltrans operates more than 85 Safety Roadside Rest Areas throughout the state, each providing a convenient place to rejuvenate before returning to the highway.”

The public can view rest area locations by visiting http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/.

Some suggested tips to avoid drowsy driving include getting at least seven hours a day, sticking to a sleep schedule, and avoiding alcohol or medications that can cause drowsiness.

Caffeinated beverages may help in the short term, but are not a substitute for sleep or rest.

Stay alert and drive without distraction not only to protect yourself but also your passengers and other motorists.
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The US Forest Service said that while firefighters have continued to prevent more growth on the August Complex, it’s expected to take another month to contain it.

The August Complex has burned 1,032,649 acres and is 93-percent contained, the Forest Service said.

The South Zone, which includes the Mendocino National Complex in northern Lake County, remained at 499,826 acres and 90-percent containment, the agency reported.

The Forest Service said there are 737 personnel assigned to the entire incident and 249 on the South Zone.

The complex began due to lightning on Aug. 16 and 17. It’s burning on the Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests.

Officials have now updated its estimated date of full containment from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15,

Officials said crews have continued to monitor, patrol and conduct fire suppression repair.

Crews are focused on fire suppression repair in priority areas such as dozer lines around wilderness, in wild and scenic river corridors and locations that are prone to landslides. Officials said they also removed debris from the roads to keep them clear for fire personnel and equipment.

Thus far, crews have repaired 41 of the 218 miles of dozer line in the Zone and nine of the 22 miles of hand line. The Forest Service said repair efforts are being coordinated between the two zones for the entire August Complex.

Resource advisors, or READs, are one of the incident management positions that the Forest Service said are committed to the day-to-day operations of the August Complex South Zone.

The Forest Services said these resources helped develop recommendations for fire suppression rehabilitation of control lines and worked alongside crews and equipment to monitor repair efforts.

Their duties also included providing guidance and identifying potential resource issues that may occur as a result of the incident or incident activities, officials said.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The California Secretary of State’s Office reported that a record number of Californians have registered to vote in this year’s general election, and the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office will be open on Sunday to accommodate those who want to vote early or drop off their ballots.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla reported on Friday that 22,047,448 Californians had registered to vote as of Oct. 19.

That’s an increase of 2,635,677 registered voters since the last report of registration at a similar point in a presidential election cycle; that previous report was issued on Oct. 24, 2016.

Padilla said 87.87 percent of eligible Californians are registered to vote, which is the highest percentage of eligible citizens registered to vote heading into a general election in the past 80 years.

The report shows that of the 48,342 Lake County residents eligible to vote, 37,262, or 77.08 percent, were registered by Oct. 19.

Of Lake County’s registered voters, the latest statistics show that 14,398, or 38.64 percent, are registered as Democrats, 11,180 or 30 percent are Republicans, 1,713 or 4.6 percent are American Independents and 292, or 0.78 percent, are Green Party members.

Padilla said California is seeing a surge in early voting. "Given the anticipated big voter turnout, along with physical distancing and safety measures at in-person voting locations, there will likely be longer lines and wait times on Election Day. Californians should not wait – they should vote early. Think of Nov. 3 as simply the last day to vote,” said Padilla.

On Friday, Padilla also released the latest vote by mail statistics for the state.

Padilla’s Friday report on vote by mail statistics showed that a larger number of voters – 22,387,925 – than shown in the Oct. 19 report have been issued vote by mail, or absentee, ballots.

Altogether, 10,076,108 of those ballots have been returned and 9,992,052, or 99.17 percent, have been accepted by the elections offices across the state, according to Padilla’s report.

Padilla said California’s voters have returned their ballots in the following ways:

– Mail: 5,169,481.
– Drop boxes: 4,220,928.
– Drop off locations: 499,404.
– Vote center dropoff: 158,098.
– Fax: 25,035.
– Other: 3,162.

In Lake County, 37,711 vote by mail ballots were issued, the Secretary of State’s Office reported.

The state said 12,522 of those ballots have been returned by Lake County voters, with 12,388 – or 98.93 percent – accepted.

Lake County’s voters have so far returned the most ballots, 8,918, by mail, with 2,812 returned in the five drop boxes stationed at the Lakeport courthouse and the four libraries, 763 returned at a dropoff location and 29 by fax, the state’s report showed.

For those who missed the October voter registration deadline, they can still participate in this year’s election.

Padilla said 2020 marks the first year that voters can complete the “Same Day” voter registration process and cast their ballot at any in-person voting location in the county or the county elections office through Election Day.

In order to facilitate voters turning in their ballots or wanting to vote in person, Lake County Registrar of Voters Maria Valadez has opened her office this weekend.

Valadez told Lake County News on Saturday that about five people came in to vote that day but 20 stopped in to return their voted ballot.

She said her office also will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Lake County Registrar of Voters Office is located in Room 209 on the second floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-2372.

On Election Day, there will still be 22 polling places around Lake County – the same number as in past elections – for those who want to vote in person, Valadez said.

For more information on the election, visit the Lake County Registrar of Voters 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.



103020 California Secretary... by LakeCoNews

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has four dogs that are ready to go to new homes this week.

Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Chihuahua, German Shepherd, pit bull, Rhodesian Ridgeback and Shar Pei.

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”).

Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm for information on visiting or adopting.

This male Chihuahua is in kennel No. 3, ID No. 13638. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male Chihuahua

This male Chihuahua has a short black and brown coat.

He has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 3, ID No. 13638.

This male Shar Pei-Rhodesian Ridgeback is in kennel No. 19, ID No. 14132. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Shar Pei-Rhodesian Ridgeback

This male Shar Pei-Rhodesian Ridgeback has a short brown and black coat.

He is in kennel No. 19, ID No. 14132.

This female pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 21, ID No. 14127. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female pit bull terrier

This female pit bull terrier has a short gray coat.

She is in kennel No. 21, ID No. 14127.

This young female German Shepherd is in kennel No. 22, ID No. 14133. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female German Shepherd

This young female German Shepherd has a short tan coat with black markings.

She is in kennel No. 22, ID No. 14133.

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.
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How confident should you be in election polls? Not nearly as confident as the pollsters claim, according to a new Berkeley Haas study.

Most election polls report a 95 percent confidence level. Yet an analysis of 1,400 polls from 11 election cycles found that the outcome lands within the poll’s result just 60 percent of the time. And that’s for polls just one week before an election – accuracy drops even more further out.

“If you’re confident, based on polling, about how the 2020 election will come out, think again,” said Berkeley Haas Prof. Don Moore, who conducted the analysis with former student Aditya Kotak, BA 20. “There are a lot of reasons why the actual outcome could be different from the poll, and the way pollsters compute confidence intervals does not take those issues into account.”

Many people were surprised when President Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016 after trailing her in the polls, and speculated that polls are getting less accurate or that the election was so unusual it threw them off.

But Moore and Kotak found no evidence of declining accuracy in their sample of polls back to 2008 – rather, they found consistently overconfident claims on the part of pollsters.

“Perhaps the way we interpret polls as a whole needs to be adjusted, to account for the uncertainty that comes with them,” Kotak said.

In fact, to be 95 percent confident, polls would need to double the margins of error they report even a week from Election Day, the analysis concluded.

As a statistics and computer science student on an undergraduate research apprenticeship in Moore’s Accuracy Lab during the 2019 presidential primary, Kotak grew curious about the confidence intervals included with polls.

He noticed that polls’ margin of error was frequently mentioned as a footnote in news articles and election forecast methodologies, and he wondered whether they were as accurate as their margins of error implied they should be.

Kotak brought the idea to Moore, who studies overconfidence from both a psychological and statistical perspective. Much of the research on polling accuracy considers only whether the poll correctly called the winner.

To gauge poll confidence, they decided to take a retroactive look at polls based on how long before an election they were conducted, and consider not whether a candidate won or lost, but whether the actual share of the vote fell within the margin of error the poll had reported. For example, if a poll showed that 54 percent of voters favored a candidate, and it had a 5 percent margin of error, it would be accurate if the candidate garnered 49 percent to 59 percent of the vote, but would be a miss if the candidate won with more than 59 percent of the vote (or less than 49 percent).

Moore and Kotak obtained 1,400 polls conducted ahead of the general elections of 2008, 2012 and 2016, as well as the Democratic presidential primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire from 2008 and 2016 and the Republican primaries in the same states from 2012 and 2016.

Because some polls asked about multiple candidates, the sample included results of over 5,000 surveys of how people said they’d vote on particular candidates, as well as the accompanying margins of error.

Analyzing the polls in seven-day batches, they found a steady decline in accuracy the farther from an election the poll was conducted, with only about half proving to be accurate 10 weeks before an election.

This makes sense since unforeseen events occur – such as former FBI director James Comey announcing an investigation into Clinton’s emails just a week before the 2016 presidential election. Yet most polls, even weeks out, reported the industry-standard 95 percent confidence interval.

Sampling error and confidence intervals

The confidence interval quantifies how sure one can be that the sample of people surveyed reflects the whole voter population. A 95 percent confidence interval, for example, means that if the same sampling procedure were followed 100 times, 95 of those samples would contain the true voter population. Therein lies the problem, however.

The confidence level takes into account “sampling error,” a statistical term that quantifies how likely it is that by pure chance, the sample varies from the larger population of voters from which the sample was drawn.

For example, not surveying a large enough group of voters would increase the sampling error. But sampling error does not include any other kinds of errors – such as surveying the wrong set of people to begin with.

“People often forget that margins of error for polls only capture the statistical sources of error,” said David Broockman, an associate professor in Berkeley’s Department of Political Science. “This analysis shows just how large the remaining non-statistical sources of error are in practice.”

Added Prof. Gabriel Lenz, also of Berkeley Political Science, “This is a fascinating analysis, and future work could sort out the sources of the inaccuracy, such as low-quality pollsters, difficulty screening likely voters, last-minute changes in voter intentions, and more.”

It’s easy to take sampling error into account in polling statistics, but much harder to account for all the other unknowns, Moore said. It’s a lesson that goes far beyond polling.

“Because we base our beliefs on imperfect and biased samples of information, sometimes we will be wrong for reasons that we did not anticipate,” he said.

Laura Counts writes for Berkeley Haas.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the Lake County Board of Supervisors will hold its regular meeting via Zoom only, and not in the board chambers at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport.

For this week, only, to allow the Registrar of Voters Office use of the board chambers to efficiently support election-related activities while observing COVID-19 precautions, no members of the board or public will participate in the board meeting from the chambers.

“We encourage all Lake County voters to make their voices heard on Tuesday,” said Moke Simon, chair of the Lake County Board of Supervisors. “Hosting our meeting virtually is a small thing our board can do to support our registrar of voters, Maria Valadez, in making this Election Day smoother, safer and more secure.”

In an Aug. 18 memo, Valadez requested the board’s permission to use the chambers, “In light of the need to make special arrangements to enable constituents to vote in person safely, with proper social distancing in place.”

Per Valadez, “Use of the Board Chambers [will] enable the setup of voting stations in the larger space.”

“I am grateful to the board for their willingness to allow use of the Board Chambers,” said Valadez. “Our staff is strongly committed to voter participation and voter safety under these unusual conditions.”

How to listen to and participate in Tuesday’s board meeting

A live feed of the meeting will be available at https://www.facebook.com/lakecountycagov/.

Visit https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx to view the Board’s Agenda, which includes Zoom information for live participation.

Click “eComment” (far right column) to submit a written comment. If a comment is submitted after the meeting begins, it may not be read during the meeting, but will become a part of the public record.
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NASA JSC.

The Moon was for a long time considered to be bone dry, with analyses of returned lunar samples from the Apollo missions showing only trace amounts of water. These traces were in fact believed to be due to contamination on Earth. But over the past two decades, re-analyses of lunar samples, observations by spacecraft missions, and theoretical modelling have proved this initial assessment to be wrong.

“Water” has since been detected inside the minerals in lunar rocks. Water ice has also been discovered to be mixed in with lunar dust grains in cold, permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles.

But scientists haven’t been sure how much of this water is present as “molecular water” – made up of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen (H2O). Now two new studies published in Nature Astronomy provide an answer, while also giving an idea of how and where to extract it.

Water and more water

The term water isn’t just used for molecular water, but also also for detections of hydrogen (H) and hydroxyl (OH). Although H and OH could be combined by astronauts to form molecular water at the lunar surface, it is important to know in what form these compounds are present initially. That’s because this will have an impact on their stability and location under lunar surface conditions, and the effort required to extract them. Molecular water, if present as water ice, would be easier to extract than hydroxyl locked in rocks.

The presence of water on the Moon is scientifically interesting; its distribution and form can help address some profound questions. For example, how did water and other volatile substances arrive at the inner Solar System in the first place? Was it produced there or brought there by asteroids or meteorites? Knowing more about the specific compound could help us find out.

Picture of an astronauts footprint on the Moon.
The lunar surface, seen by Apollo 11. NASA

Understanding how much water is present, and its location, is also incredibly useful for planning human missions to the Moon and beyond. Water represents a key resource that can be used for life-support purposes – but it can also be split apart into its constituent elements and put to other uses. Oxygen could replenish air supplies, or be used in simple chemical reactions at the lunar surface to extract other useful resources from the regolith (soil composed of small grains). Water could also be used as rocket fuel in the form of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

This means that the Moon has great potential to become a refuelling base for space missions further into the Solar System or beyond. Its lower gravity and lack of atmosphere means it would require less fuel to launch from there than from Earth. So when space agencies talk of in-situ resource utilisation at the Moon, water is front and centre of their plans, making the new papers extremely exciting.

New research

Instruments on board various spacecraft have previously measured “reflectance spectra” (light broken down by wavelength) from the Moon. These detect light coming from a surface to measure how much energy it reflects at a specific wavelength. This will differ based on what the surface consists of. Because it has water, the Moon’s surface absorbs light at 3????m wavelengths (0.000003 metres). However, absorptions at this wavelength cannot distinguish between molecular water and hydroxyl compounds.

Using the NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) telescope, flown at 43,000 feet, the team behind one of the new papers observed sunlit sections of the Moon’s surface in wavelengths of 5-8????m. H2O results in a characteristic peak in the spectrum at 6????m, and by comparing a near-equatorial area as a baseline (thought to have almost no water) with an area near the south pole, this study reports the first unequivocal observations of molecular water under ambient conditions at the lunar surface at an abundance of 100-400 parts per million.

This is several orders of magnitude too large for most of the water to be adsorbed onto regolith grain surfaces. Instead, the authors suggest that the water they have observed must be locked up inside glass formed by tiny meteorites impacting and melting already hydrated regolith grains. Alternatively, it could be present in voids between grain boundaries, which would make it easier to extract. Where exactly this water is sited would be of extreme interest for future explorers as it would dictate the processes and energy required to extract it.

Luckily, the other paper used new theoretical models, based on temperature data and higher resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, to refine predictions of where conditions are right for molecular water to be trapped as ice.

Previous research has shown already that there are such kilometres-wide “cold traps” in permanently shadowed areas near the poles, where water ice may be present. Evidence from orbiting spacecraft, however, was inconclusive about this being molecular water or hydroxyl. The new study finds that there are also abundant small cold traps where conditions permit water ice to accumulate – on the scale of centimetres or decimetres. In fact, such traps should be hundreds to thousands of times more numerous than larger cold traps.

The team calculates that 0.1% of the total lunar surface is cold enough to trap water as ice, and that the majority of these icy cold traps are at high latitudes (> 80°). This is particularly near to the lunar south pole, narrowing down the choice of future landing sites with the highest chance of finding trapped water ice. However, it is important to realise that the two studies investigated areas at different latitudes (55°-75°S vs >80°S) and therefore cannot be compared directly.

Nevertheless, these latest discoveries further enhance our understanding of the history of water on our nearest neighbour. They will undoubtedly strengthen plans for a return to the Moon. Instruments such as the European Space Agency’s (PROSPECT payload on Luna 27) will be able to make measurements on the Moon to “ground-truth” these tantalising glimpses of the wealth of information yet to be discovered.The Conversation

James Mortimer, Postdoctoral researcher in Planetary Science and Exploration, The Open University and Mahesh Anand, Professor of Planetary Science and Exploration, The Open University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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On Tuesday, Nov. 3, California county elections officials will work through the night counting ballots.

In California, the vote count process does not end on Election Night. Due to state laws that ensure voters’ rights, ballots will continue to arrive and be counted after Election Day.

“California elections officials prioritize the right to vote and election security over rushing the vote count,” said Secretary of State Alex Padilla. “By law, county election officials have 30 days to count every valid ballot and conduct a post-election audit. Every vote-by-mail ballot goes through signature verification. Several safety nets to protect voting rights, including Same Day Voter Registration and provisional ballots, require additional processing time by elections officials, but we’d rather get it right than get it fast.

“To prepare our election for the COVID-19 pandemic we have taken several steps to protect voters. Every active, registered voter was mailed a ballot. We also extended the time for vote-by-mail ballots to arrive to county elections offices. Ballots postmarked on or before Election Day can arrive up until November 20 and still be processed and counted,” Padilla said.

“On Election Night, we will have a good picture of most contests, but the outcomes of close contests may take days or weeks to settle. This is normal. Baseless accusations of fraud during the thorough and transparent vote count process only serve to undermine confidence in our democracy. As California’s Chief Elections Officer, voting rights and election integrity are my top priorities,” Padilla added.

Who counts ballots in California?

California counties handle the printing, mailing and processing of ballots. The Secretary of State’s Office does not process ballots in any way.

What are the first results we will be seeing on Election Night?

The first election results are typically ballots received before Election Day. For this election, county elections officials were allowed to being opening and processing vote-by-mail ballot envelopes up to 29 days before Election Day, but those results cannot be accessed or shared with the public until all polls close on Election Day.

Typically counties can’t begin processing vote-by-mail ballots until 10 business days before an election, but urgency legislation allowed them to begin processing ballots earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increased volume of vote-by-mail ballots.

Why do some counties show no precincts have reported, yet some votes have been counted?
Many county elections officials choose to tally and report these early voted ballots before results come in from precincts, which are sometimes far away from county headquarters.

Early voted ballots simply appear as raw vote totals because, in this initial stage, the ballots are not attributed to individual precincts.

Why have some counties not reported any results immediately after the polls close?

Each of the 58 county elections offices processes ballots differently, and the distances poll workers must travel from polling places to county offices vary greatly. State law requires county elections officials to send their first batch of results to the Secretary of State’s Office no more than two hours after they begin tallying votes after polls close on Election Day.

County elections officials continue to report results periodically on Election Night until all precinct vote totals have been reported. County elections officials will continue to count ballots up to 30 days after Election Day.

When are vote-by-mail ballots counted?

Vote-by-mail ballots that are received by county elections officials before Election Day are typically counted on Election Day. Many more vote-by-mail ballots are dropped off at polling places, drop box locations, or arrive at county elections offices on Election Day.

Due to urgency legislation for this election, vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received by county elections officials no later than 17 days after Election Day must be processed.

Depending on the volume of these types of ballots, it takes up to 30 days for county elections officials to verify voter records and determine if ballots have been cast by eligible voters. The frequency of updated results will vary based on the size of each county and the process each local elections office uses to tally and report votes.

How and when are provisional ballots counted?

In California, provisional ballots serve as a fail-safe method of ensuring all voters who show up to the polls can cast a ballot.

All provisional ballots are carefully checked by county elections officials to confirm that the person who voted provisionally is both registered and that they did not cast a ballot by mail or at another polling location on Election Day.

Due to the additional human review and verification needed for provisional ballots, they are typically counted after Election Day and vote-by-mail ballots.

How and when are Same Day voter registrations processed?

Same Day voter registration, also known as conditional voter registration in state law, is a safety net for Californians who miss the deadline to register to vote or update their voter registration information for an election.

Eligible citizens who need to register or re-register to vote within 14 days of an election can complete this process to register and vote at their county elections office, polling place, or vote center. Their ballots will be processed and counted once the county elections office has completed the voter registration verification process.

How will we know how many ballots remain to be counted?

Two days after the election, counties must provide the Secretary of State an estimate of their remaining unprocessed ballots report. The Secretary of State’s office will post this “unprocessed ballots report” online and provide daily updates as new estimates are provided from the county elections offices.

When will the vote counting period end and election be certified?

Election results will change throughout the canvass period as vote-by-mail ballots, provisional ballots, and other ballots are processed.

Depending on the volume of these types of ballots, it may take up to 30 days for county elections officials to verify voter records and determine if ballots have been cast by eligible voters.

The frequency of updated results will vary based on the size of each county and the process each county elections office uses to tally and report votes.

County elections officials must report their final results to the Secretary of State’s Office for the presidential contest by Dec. 1 and all other state and federal contests by Dec. 4.

The Secretary of State’s Office will certify the results on Dec. 11.

The Electoral College will convene on Dec. 14.
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Dogs have been constant companions to many during the COVID-19 pandemic. NickyLloyd/E+ via Getty Images

I have discovered one positive amid the pandemic: I love working with two dogs at my feet.

As someone who studies dog cognition, I often wonder: What is Charlie learning when he stops to sniff the crisp fall air? What is Cleo thinking when she stares at me while I write? Are my dogs happy?

I’m not alone in finding myself suddenly spending more time with my pups and contemplating what’s on their minds. More people in the U.S. are working from home now than are working in the workplace, and many now share home offices with their canine companions. What’s more, many are finding their lives enriched with the addition of a new pet, as people started adopting dogs at massive rates during the pandemic.

This uptick in dog time means I have been fielding questions from new and experienced dog owners alike about their companions’ mentalities. Many questions center on the same themes I ponder: What is my dog thinking? Am I doing everything I can to ensure my pup is content?

Fortunately, research on dog cognition can help unravel what is on their minds and provide insight into what they need for psychologically fulfilling and happy lives.

Smelling superstars

Dogs are both familiar and yet fascinatingly alien. To appreciate their “otherness” all you need to do is consider their sensory world.

A close up shot of a shaggy dog smelling the ground and looking at camera.
A dog’s nose dominates its face for good reason. Capuski/iStock via Getty Images Plus


My dogs and I have very different experiences when we walk a trail. I marvel at the beautiful autumn day, but my dogs have their heads to the ground, seemingly ignoring the wonders around them.

However, they are appreciating something I can’t perceive: the scent of the fox who scampered through last night, the lingering odor of the dogs who’ve walked this way and the footsteps of my neighbor, who last wore her hiking shoes in woods my dogs have never visited.

You’ve probably heard about dogs who sniff out cancer, weapons or even coronavirus. These dogs are not special in their nose power: Your dog could do the same thing. In fact, the first dog to sniff out cancer sniffed a mole on his owner’s leg so frequently that she went to the dermatologist, where she was diagnosed with melanoma.

A dog’s sense of smell is estimated to be 10,000 to 100,000 times better than that of a human. This is due, in large part, to staggering differences in odor processing in humans and dogs.

While we have about 6 million olfactory receptors, dogs have a staggering 300 million. Their epithelium, or nasal tissue, is about 30 times larger than ours. And while people have between 12 million and 40 million olfactory neurons – specialized cells involved in transmitting odor information to the brain – dogs, depending on the breed, can have 220 million to 2 billion!

How can you even conceptualize this breathtaking difference in abilities? This disparity is like detecting one teaspoon of sugar in enough water to fill two Olympic sized swimming pools.

Now that your mind has been blown about your dog’s incredible sense of smell, you can use this information to make your dog happier by taking it on the occasional “sniffy walk” – letting it lead the way and take as much time to smell as it would like. Such walks can make dogs happier by allowing them to gain lots of information about the world around them.

The love is mutual

While there are parts of a dog’s mind that are alien, there are also parts that feel very familiar. Chances are, your dog occupies a special place in your heart. Recent research suggests your dog feels the same way about you. Your dog adores you.

A golden retriever type dog looks up adordingly at its owner.
The average dog spends a lot of time gazing at its owner – creating a ‘love-loop.’ Murat Natan/EyeEm via Getty Images


Dogs attach to their owners in much the same way human infants attach to their parents. Like babies, dogs show distress when left with a stranger and rush to reunite upon their person’s return.

A recent study found that dogs that have been deprived of food and owners choose to greet their owners before eating. Further, their brain’s reward centers “light up” upon smelling their owners. And, when your eyes meet your dog’s, both your brains release oxytocin, also know as the “cuddle hormone.”

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All of this research shows that you can make your dog happier with just one ingredient: you. Make more eye contact to release that cuddle hormone. Touch it more – dogs like pats better than treats! Go ahead and “baby talk” to your dog – it draws the dog’s attention to you more and may strengthen your bond.

Understanding your dog’s mind can not only sate your curiosity about your companion, but can also help you ensure your pup lives a good, happy life. The more you know about your furry friends the more you can do to meet their needs.

And now I am off to gaze into Cleo’s bright blue eyes, give Charlie a belly rub, and then let them take me on a “sniffy” walk.The Conversation

Ellen Furlong, Associate Professor of Psychology, Illinois Wesleyan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Members of the California Highway Patrol’s Cadet Training Class III-19 during their graduation on Friday, October 30, 2020, in West Sacramento, California. Photo courtesy of the CHP.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – On Friday 77 new California Highway Patrol officers – including a Hidden Valley Lake man – were sworn in during an unprecedented socially distant graduation ceremony at the CHP Academy.

The graduating class begins their new career with more hands-on experience than any class in academy history, the CHP reported.

Among this year’s graduates is Kyle Nelson of Hidden Valley Lake.

Officer Nelson graduated from Windsor High School in 2004. Prior to attending the CHP Academy, he worked as a senior technician for Viavi Solutions in Santa Rosa.

As concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic intensified, the CHP closed its live-in academy in West Sacramento on March 20.

All cadets were sent home and assigned to work in CHP Area offices located as close to their residences as practicable.

Prior to leaving, the seven women and 70 men of Cadet Training Class, or CTC, III-19, who started Oct. 21, 2019, had completed 23 weeks of their 29-week training at the academy.

During the six months spent working in CHP Area offices throughout the state, cadets had an unprecedented opportunity to observe a wide variety of activities and tasks, enhancing their classroom work.

Officer Kyle Nelson of Hidden Valley Lake, California, graduated from the California Highway Patrol Academy in West Sacramento, California, on Friday, October 30, 2020. He has been assigned to the Napa Area office. Photo courtesy of the CHP.


On ride-alongs with officers, they experienced a CHP officer’s shift in the field and learned first-hand how to complete crash reports and assist the public.

They also learned the administrative side of the job – filing reports, answering the phone, and performing general tasks that may be unfamiliar to many officers.

The CHP said Nelson spent six months working in the Clear Lake Area office in Kelseyville.

On Sept. 14, all members of CTC III-19 who left in March returned to the academy for their final weeks of training with enhanced health and safety protocols.

“We are all so proud of this class,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “These cadets faced the uncertainty of the pandemic with resolve and returned to the Academy energized about their new careers, benefiting from a wealth of real-life experience that no other cadets have had.”

At the CHP Academy, cadet training starts with nobility in policing, leadership, professionalism and ethics, and cultural diversity. Training also includes mental illness response and crisis intervention techniques.

Cadet instruction covers patrol operations, crash investigation, first aid, and the arrest of suspected violators, including those who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The cadets also receive training in traffic control, report writing, recovery of stolen vehicles, assisting the motoring public, issuing citations, emergency scene management, and knowledge of various codes including the Vehicle Code, Penal Code, and Health and Safety Code.

Upon graduation, the cadets are assigned to CHP Area offices throughout the state.

The CHP said Nelson has been assigned to the Napa Area office.

Members of the California Highway Patrol’s Cadet Training Class III-19 pin on their own badges during their graduation on Friday, October 30, 2020, in West Sacramento, California. Photo courtesy of the CHP.

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