On Thursday, Jan. 7, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) will hold his first virtual town hall of the new 117th Congress and the 17th in a series of virtual town halls since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
This is a general town hall, open to questions on all topics within Thompson’s jurisdiction as a member of Congress.
All constituents of California’s Fifth Congressional District and members of the press are invited to join.
Those who want to take part on Zoom must email Thompson’s office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in order to join, as the platform has a capacity of 500 people. Interested participants will be notified via email with instructions on how to join.
Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council will start off the year with a discussion regarding the city’s response to COVID-19 and appointments of council members to various committees and boards.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5.
The meeting will be by teleconference only. The city council chambers will not be open to the public.
To access the meeting by phone call 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, Jan. 5.
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 meet new Utilities Operator III Mark Fetzer and present a proclamation designating January 2021 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month in the city of Lakeport.
Under council business, City Manager Kevin Ingram will give the council a report on the city’s ongoing response to COVID-19.
Ingram noted that at the council’s regular Dec. 1 meeting, it requested that staff work closely with the League of California Cities to give rural areas a greater voice on COVID-19 relief for local businesses and residents and then bring the item back to the council for further consideration.
He recalled that additional discussion on the topic of the city’s COVID-19 response efforts took place following a presentation from Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace at the council’s Dec. 15 meeting.
“Following that discussion there seemed to be a greater need to revisit more holistically the City of Lakeport’s current COVID-19 response efforts and evaluate whether or not City staff should be doing things differently,” Ingram wrote.
He noted in his report that, as it was being written, “the City along with Lake County are experiencing its largest surge in the number of new COVID-19 cases to date.”
Ingram will review the city’s community and business outreach, as well as its compliance efforts and activities and will invite input from the council and public. His report and the list of activities begins on page 20 of the staff report below.
“Overall, the City remains committed to finding solutions that balance both the public health and economic needs of the City’s residents and businesses,” Ingram wrote.
Also on Tuesday, Mayor Kenny Parlet will appoint council members as liaisons to various boards, committees and commissions.
The council will adopt a resolution appointing representatives to represent and vote on behalf of the city at the League of California Cities, Redwood Empire Division Business meetings and represent the city and vote at Division Legislative Committee meetings.
Finance Director Nick Walker will present a contract award for Willdan Financial Services of Temecula to complete a utility rate study for $44,750.
The council also will hold a budget review and look and first quarter financials and consider executing the first amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with 4LEAF Inc. for building services. The total “not to exceed” amount in the contract is being increased from $25,000 to $50,000.
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 Dec. 15; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency; and approval of the Recognized Obligation Schedule for the period of July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022, for presentation and adoption by the Lake County Redevelopment Oversight Board.
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.
Meyer lemons are among the vast array of citrus fruits that brighten winter cooking. Photo by Esther Oertel. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Citrus fruits, most of which ripen in the gloom of winter, can add a rainbow of color and bright flavor to the things we create in our kitchens when the skies are gray.
Can it be that the Earth understands that we need a little boost when the weather’s cold?
It would seem so, as many of our cheeriest fruits – both in color and flavor – arrive just in time to dispel the darkness of the fall and winter months.
Among these colorful offerings are persimmons, pomegranates, cranberries, and today’s topic, citrus fruits. Oranges of all types, lemons, tangerines, grapefruits, and the like provide a spectrum of flavor – from tart to sweet – to brighten both our mood and our food this time of year.
In my opinion, any array of citrus fruit is worthy of love – there are so many types! - but my heart has been known to especially skip a beat when I see a pile of Meyer lemons at the grocery store. They’re definitely a favorite of mine, as I love their delicate flavor.
They’re not as hardy in terms of shelf life as typical supermarket lemons, so (at least in our neck of the woods) they make a brief appearance when local growers have them available, which, depending on the characteristics of the season, can be any time between December and March.
It feels like their season is here for just a few minutes each year, and I try to take advantage of every second of it.
One of the loveliest attributes of citrus fruit, especially those in the orange family, is the scent of their skin. When I zest oranges and breathe in that sweet, energizing fragrance, I joke that if I were wealthy, I’d pay someone really well to walk near me zesting an orange at all times. It’s such a beautiful aroma and orange zest has become one of my go-to ingredients in cooking.
Eating oranges, grapefruits or tangerines unadorned and out of hand is a wonderful way to enhance one’s health. They’re rich in nutrients that support our immune system and stave off colds and flu, such as vitamin C. (Just one orange provides the daily dose of it.)
There is a plethora of ways to use them in cuisine, a number of which are listed below to get your creative juices (pun intended) flowing. With our global economy, most citrus is available year-round; however, they’re especially enjoyable now, at the peak of winter.
Use halved, whole, or in slices to enhance foods as they cook: Before cooking, stuff a fish with tarragon or thyme and sliced lemons or layer the lemon slices on top of fish fillets. A pork loin can be stuffed with grapefruit and fennel, or a chicken with lemon halves and rosemary. Get creative with your choices by trying different combinations - orange with chicken or lime with fish, for example. Be careful of the seeds, though, as they can impart a bitter taste. It’s best to remove them.
Juice to use as an acid: Release the flavorful juice in citrus – tangy or sweet, depending on the fruit – to use as an alternative to vinegar in salad dressings or marinades. Different citrus flavors can be combined and layered for interesting results – limes with lemons, for example, or a mixture of juices from different types of oranges. Feel free to mix citrus juice with other acids, such as vinegars made from apple cider, white wine, or rice. For best results, be sure your fruit is at room temperature and gently roll it a bit before pressing or squeezing by hand. This allows more juice to be released.
Add to sauces: Julia Child’s life was changed forever when she was in Paris and tasted beurre blanc, a lemony butter sauce. It so wowed her that she decided to learn to cook. Citrus adds tang to lift and enhance the flavor of a sauce, whether it’s just a squeeze at the end or a major ingredient. Be sure to add the citrus, especially lemon, at the end to keep it fresh. If your sauce contains dairy, be careful not to add too much as it may cause the sauce to curdle. (Milk with the addition of an acid creates cheese.)
Balance rich and creamy dishes with citrus: A bit of citrus juice or zest – most commonly lemon – can bring balance to heavy or overly rich dishes, like creamy soups, gratins and risottos. Even stews or heavily sauced pastas can benefit from a bit of citrus. (I like to add an orange studded with a few cloves to flavor beef stew.)
Zest for added flavor: Zest is the grated skin of citrus fruit. In addition to the benefit of its flavor, it packs an antioxidant and nutrient punch, as these health benefits tend to reside mostly just beneath the skin. Citrus zest can be added to so many things – pasta dishes, baked goods, sauces, vinaigrettes, breadcrumbs, mayo, and brines all benefit from its bright flavor. Be sure to wash and dry fruit before zesting (and if you’re both juicing and zesting the fruit, it’s much easier to do the zesting first). Use only the thin top layer of colorful skin and avoid the white pith beneath, as it can be bitter. The easiest way to zest citrus is to use a rasp grater, but if one isn’t available, a paring knife can be used to cut strips of peel, which can then be finely chopped. It’s best to prepare the zest just prior to using, as it can lose some of its flavor while sitting out.
Roast to intensify flavor: Roasting citrus intensifies its flavor and brings out its natural sweetness. Pieces of roasted citrus can flavor and sweeten breakfast dishes like yogurt, oatmeal, or pancakes, as well as add brightness to savory dishes like chicken or vegetables. To roast, cut citrus fruits into segments or slices, toss with a little olive oil, and roast at 425 degrees Fahrenheit until some of the juices have evaporated and the fruit is lightly caramelized. The skin may be left on if the fruit is thinly sliced; however, it’s best to remove the skin and white pith of the slices are thicker. For sweet applications, a sprinkle of cinnamon or drizzle of honey may be added before roasting. Roasted citrus may be enjoyed warm, room temperature, or cold. Toss the roasted pieces with winter vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts or carrots, or add them to baked fish or chicken. Alternatively, the citrus pieces can be roasted in the oven on the same pan as whatever they’re paired with.
Segment to toss in salads: Segmented pieces of oranges or grapefruits make a nice addition to a fresh salad and other dishes. An efficient way to segment them is to cut a thick slice off the top and the bottom of the fruit with a sharp knife so the pulp is exposed. Hold the fruit upright and slice off the peel in thick strips, cutting around the contours of the fruit. Hold the peeled fruit over a bowl, and using the knife, carefully cut between the fruit and membrane on either side of each segment to free it, letting it drop into the bowl with the juices. Discard any seeds.
Finish with citrus: Like salt, citrus brings out the flavor of other ingredients. Finishing with a squeeze of citrus will brighten and enhance any dish, especially those that may taste dull.
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.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster announced Monday that effective immediately he has directed all deputy prosecutors to file peremptory challenges to disqualify and prevent Superior Court Judge Clayton Brennan from hearing any pending criminal case or future cases that will be filed in which a defendant is charged with animal cruelty.
Likewise, the DA has also directed his deputy prosecutors to file peremptory challenges to disqualify and prevent Judge Brennan from hearing any criminal case in which the district attorney has alleged that the defendant personally used a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The announcement comes a few weeks after Brennan’s controversial decision in the case of “Thunder the Wonder Dog.”
Brennan allowed Thunder’s former owner, Katie Rhiannon Smith, 35, of Caspar, have her felony animal cruelty conviction reduced to a misdemeanor and to serve no jail time after she shot her dog in the woods in December 2019, as Lake County News has reported.
Eyster said he also will seek appellate review of Brennan’s decision in the Smith case.
California jurisprudence and statutory law allow district attorneys to refuse to accept a judge on a particular case or certain types of cases if it is believed that the judge is “so biased against the People that he or she cannot be entrusted with the fair administration of justice,” Eyster said.
In issuing his directive, Eyster continued, “The judge currently sitting in the Ten Mile Court in Fort Bragg has betrayed community standards and community trust. He has made it abundantly clear that he has no use for, does not value, and is biased against law enforcement and the community’s ongoing efforts to seek justice against those who victimize animals and use firearms to commit felonies.
“Accordingly, I deem him legally unfit to sit as a judge on the types of criminal cases described above,” said Eyster.
When asked if the peremptory challenges to Judge Brennan will occur only in cases involving animal cruelty or cases where it has been charged that the defendant has personally used a firearm, Eyster said the question of the scope and definition of cases for which Judge Brennan will be disqualified remains an open question being evaluated by the district attorney and his senior attorneys.
On Sunday, Lake County’s two members of Congress, Rep. John Garamendi (CA-03) and Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05), were sworn into the 117th Congress.
Both men offered their gratitude to their constituents for electing them to office.
Garamendi noted that as he took his oath on Sunday, “I was reminded of the awesome responsibility I have to ‘create a more perfect union,’ to act in all ways consistent with the Constitution, to advance economic and social opportunities for all Americans, to protect our home, the Earth, from the destruction of climate change, and to secure the safety of our country from domestic and foreign threats.”
He continued, “The most pressing and immediate challenge before the 117th Congress is to provide the much-needed resources to defeat COVID-19 and restore the economic wellbeing of Americans that have lost so much due to this pandemic. The health and safety of my constituents is my utmost concern during the coronavirus pandemic. I will take every step to ensure American families have the tools they need to protect themselves from the virus without facing unnecessary economic hardship.”
Garamendi said he will fight throughout this new session of Congress to ensure every American has equal access to an affordable education, and that our K-12 and public university systems are fully supported.
“My work as chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness will also continue, where I will work to support the missions at Travis and Beale Air Force Bases, ensure our nation has a strong defense against the recent string of cyber-attacks it has faced, and that our military helps address the global threat posed by climate change. I will also continue my work as a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to create new jobs in our region by promoting my ‘Make It In America’ and “Buy American’ policies that will help rebuild our nation’s crumbling infrastructure with American materials and workers. I look forward to accomplishing all of this and more with the Biden-Harris Administration,” Garamendi said.
“Yes, I’m excited by the challenge and the work ahead, but I know that I can only succeed in meeting the challenge with the continued support and advice of my constituents. I encourage every Third District resident to write to my office to share their priorities and ideas with me. You can do so by visiting http://garamendi.house.gov,” he said.
Thompson outlined his priorities for the coming session.
“It’s my deep honor to be sworn in to again serve our community in Congress. Our nation faces a crisis unlike any in our lifetimes and we must tackle this challenge together. I will work tirelessly to ensure we have the resources to crush the coronavirus and support the families, workers, small businesses and state and local governments that are struggling. We need more relief and we must work to get this done as soon as possible. This is our most urgent task in the first weeks and months of this year,” Thompson said.
“This Congress, we must also tackle our nation’s most important and pressing problems. Chief among my priorities is addressing the threat of climate change, an issue that poses an existential threat to our planet and to future generations. We must also work to build back our economy that has been hit hard by the virus, including creating jobs that meet the needs of our 21st-century economy,” Thompson said.
“I will continue my work to help end gun violence and ensure our new president signs into law my bill to expand background checks and help keep our communities safe. I’ll also fight to ensure we expand access to high-quality, affordable health care and to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure,” he said.
“Finally, I am committed to redoubling my efforts to bring back every federal dollar and resource to help our community rebuild from the recent fires and to prevent future fires. We must address both fire recovery and prevention at the same time. I know that this new Congress, with the help of President-elect Biden, can address these critical priorities and help make history,” Thompson concluded.
Jose Ceja-Torres, 31, of Clearlake, California, is wanted in connection to a shooting in Clearlake on Friday, January 1, 2021. Photo courtesy of the Clearlake Police Department. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department said Saturday that it is searching for the local man who was responsible for a New Year’s Day shooting.
Police said they are seeking Jose Ceja-Torres, 31, of Clearlake, for the felony violations of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
Sgt. Ryan Peterson said that on Friday at 4:30 p.m., officers responded to the area of Lakeshore Drive and Woodland Drive for a report of a gunshot victim. On their arrival, they located a male in his early 40s who had been shot.
In a separate report, police identified the shooting victim as 41-year-old Clearlake resident Arnulfo Barragan Garibo.
Medical personnel from the Lake County Fire Protection District arrived on scene and began treating Barragan Garibo, who Peterson said was eventually flown to an out-of-county medical facility for further treatment and released.
Peterson said the shooting is believed to have occurred at a residence in the 14900 block of Davis Avenue in Clearlake.
The Clearlake Police Department’s Investigations Bureau was contacted and arrived to assist with the investigation. Peterson said officers responded to the residence where the incident was reported to have occurred and located possible evidence.
Through the investigation, Ceja-Torres was identified as the person who shot the victim, Peterson said.
A record check of Jose Ceja-Torres revealed he also has an active $150,000 arrest warrant for being armed with a firearm while in possession of drugs and two $50,000 arrest warrants for possession of marijuana for sale and felony evading a police officer, Peterson said.
At noon on Saturday, Clearlake Police Officer Mauricio Barreto conducted a traffic stop on a black Ford F150 pickup in the 14100 block of Lakeshore Drive for a traffic violation, with the driver identified as Barragan Garibo, the shooting victim from the previous day.
During the stop, a large amount of ammunition, a large capacity magazine and an AR15 rifle hidden in the engine compartment were located. The serial number of the rifle had been removed, police said.
Barragan Garibo was arrested on probable cause for several felonies. Officers obtained a bail enhancement on Barragan Garibo from a judge with the Lake County Superior Court in the amount of $200,000.
Barragan Garibo was booked into the Lake County Jail and the truck towed, police said.
As of Saturday night, Peterson said Ceja-Torres’ whereabouts were unknown and he is considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information on his location is asked to not approach him and contact the Clearlake Police Department Investigation Bureau at 707-994-8251 or their local law enforcement agency.
Police seized an AR15 rifle with its serial number removed, along with a large amount of ammunition, a large capacity magazine during a traffic stop on Saturday, January 2, 2021. The stop resulted in the arrest of 41-year-old Clearlake resident Arnulfo Barragan Garibo, shot the previous day by Jose Ceja-Torres, 31, of Clearlake, California. Photo courtesy of the Clearlake Police Department.
The California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board on Monday announced the release of its fourth annual report on racial and identity profiling in policing in the state as required under the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, or RIPA.
The report contains an analysis of the nearly four million vehicle and pedestrian stops conducted by California’s 15 largest law enforcement agencies in 2019.
The report also examines civilian complaint data, provides recommendations from the board, and shares best practices in a number of areas, including on bias-free policing policies, bias by proxy and crisis intervention, and training.
In addition to the board’s latest report, the California Department of Justice is highlighting recently expanded access to RIPA data on stops in schools and search discovery rates through online dashboards on OpenJustice.
Ultimately, this latest RIPA report aims to directly contribute to the conversation on police reform through data and research, policy recommendations, and accountability mechanisms that will help give communities, legislators, and law enforcement tools for innovative and critically-needed action.
Sahar Durali, co-chair of the board and associate director of litigation and policy at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles, noted that 2020 “has shown us that the work of the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board is more critical than ever before.”
Durali continued, “This year’s RIPA report contains detailed data analysis of police stops and searches across racial and identity groups, as well as comprehensive best practices for law enforcement agencies to root out racial and identity profiling in their practices, policies, and culture and be accountable to their communities. I want to extend my deepest thanks and appreciation to the dedicated staff at the Department of Justice and community members who continually show up to RIPA Board meetings and offer us their experiences and expertise for their efforts this year.”
“On behalf of the California Police Chiefs Association, it has been my honor to represent our association alongside the many distinguished members of the RIPA Board. The data in this report will be used by our profession to evaluate our practices as we continue to strive for police services that are fair and impartial,” said Chief David Swing, co-chair of the board and past-president of the California Police Chiefs Association. “We know that successful policing outcomes are founded in strong community partnerships, we hope the information in this report will result in positive outcomes in our communities. I am ever grateful for the peace officers throughout our state who serve their communities with honor, working diligently each and every day to improve the quality of life for those they serve.”
“Another year of collecting RIPA data means a greater opportunity to address police reform with hard data,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “I want to thank the members of the RIPA Board — and our team at the DOJ involved in preparing this report — for helping make this critical information available to all. The more data we have about policing in our state, the more targeted and precise we can be in our reform and interventions.”
The information collected under RIPA includes data on peace officers’ perceptions of the demographics of stopped individuals.
The purpose of collecting information on officer perceptions is to attempt to systematically document and analyze stops and searches to determine whether disparities can be found across demographics and geographies.
The perceived demographic information collected includes a number of characteristics such as race or ethnicity, gender, age, disability status, English fluency and LGBT identity.
There are a number of methodologies to analyze stop data that can help determine if bias may exist, and the report relies on several well-established methods as reference points.
However, as noted in the report, there are important limitations and caveats for each methodology that should be kept in mind when interpreting the data.
Some of the key findings from the 2019 round of data collection and first full year of RIPA data include:
– Reason for stop: Across all racial and ethnic groups, the most common reason peace officers reported for initiating a stop was a traffic violation (85%) and the next most common reason was reasonable suspicion of criminal activity (12.1%). People who were perceived as Black had the highest proportion of their stops (21%) for reasonable suspicion while those who were perceived as Middle Eastern or South Asian had the lowest (4%).
– Use of force: People who were perceived as Black or Hispanic were more likely to have force used against them as compared to those perceived as White, whereas those perceived as Asian were less likely. The odds of having force used during a stop were 1.45 times greater for people perceived as Black, and 1.18 times greater for people perceived as Hispanic, as compared to those perceived as White.
– Weighted residential population compared to stop data: Using data from the 2018 American Community Survey, people who were perceived as Black were overrepresented in the stop data (+9.3% Points) and people perceived as Asian were underrepresented (-6.6% Points) as compared to population estimates.
– Veil of darkness analysis: This method analyzes stops that were made during the intertwilight period, which is the time of day that can either be light or dark depending on the time of year. The proportion of individuals stopped after dark during this period was compared across perceived racial or ethnic groups. Having a lower proportion of stops occur in the dark compared to people perceived as White may indicate bias. People perceived as Hispanic were the least likely (-1.4% Points) to be stopped after dark compared to those perceived as White. Although not statistically significant, individuals perceived as Asian were the only group that were more likely (+0.2% Points) to be stopped after dark compared to those perceived as White. Search Rates: Search rates refer to the proportion of stops that involved a search. People who were perceived as Black were searched at 2.5 times the rate of people perceived as White. While officers stopped more than twice as many people perceived as White as compared to people perceived as Black, there were more individuals who were perceived as Black who ended up being searched, detained on the curb or in a patrol car, handcuffed, or removed from vehicles.
Search discovery rates: The search discovery rate refers to the proportion of individuals that officers searched who were found to be in possession of contraband or evidence. Compared to individuals who were perceived as White, search discovery rates were highest for people who were perceived as multiracial (+1.7% Points) and lowest for people who were perceived as Middle Eastern or South Asian (-2.8% Points). Altogether, individuals perceived as Black, Hispanic, and Native American had higher search rates despite having lower search discovery rates compared to individuals who were perceived as White.
For more on the data, members of the public are encouraged to review the online RIPA data dashboards available on OpenJustice.
The dashboards provide a unique look at the data and give the public unprecedented access to information on stops and searches conducted by California’s largest law enforcement agencies.
The two newest dashboards go into greater detail regarding on-campus stops of K-12 public school students and search discovery rates and outcomes of stops. The dashboards currently provide a look into the first wave of RIPA stop data and are in the process of being updated to incorporate the latest round of RIPA data collected during 2019.
For more on the information contained in the 2021 Board report, members of the public are also encouraged to review the fact sheet and report appendices. The report appendices contain tabulated summaries of the data.
Editor’s note: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency in charge of enforcing laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace, on Dec. 16 said that employers can require employees to get vaccinated before entering the workplace. Now that two COVID-19 vaccines have received emergency use authorization in the U.S., some people are concerned they could be fired if they don’t want to take the vaccine. We asked legal scholar Ana Santos Rutschman, who teaches a course on vaccine law at Saint Louis University, to explain the decision and the rights employees and employers have.
1. Can employers require employees to get a vaccine?
The general rule is yes – with some exceptions.
Under U.S. law, private employers have the ability to define general working conditions, including the adoption of health and safety within the workspace. Requiring employees to get vaccinated against diseases that could compromise health and safety in the workplace is viewed as part of that ability.
2. Does the rule apply to COVID-19 vaccines?
Earlier in the pandemic, there were some doubts about whether the general rule would apply to COVID-19 vaccines because the first vaccines that became available in the U.S. have not been fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration. They have received an emergency use authorization, which is temporary permission to commercialize the vaccines because of the public health crisis the U.S. is facing. This is the first time emergency use authorization has been granted to a new vaccine. For this reason, some legal scholars questioned whether existing laws applied to temporarily authorized vaccines.
That question was addressed when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued guidelines that said employers have the right to impose a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.
From a legal perspective, this view is based on the fact that the law allows employers to impose requirements to make sure that employees don’t pose threats to the “health or safety of other individuals in the workplace.” The EEOC treated emergency use vaccines as part of the sets of measures that employers are able to mandate in order to accomplish this goal.
Therefore, the general rule applies and employers should be able to require that employees get vaccinated against COVID-19, within certain limits. These limits – including the exceptions below – are the same as the general exemptions applicable to any employer-mandated vaccination.
3. Are there religious exemptions?
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act established that if an employee has a sincerely held religious belief incompatible with vaccination, the employer cannot require that employee to be vaccinated. The EEOC has traditionally interpreted the concept of “religious belief” very broadly. Vaccine refusal cannot, however, be a personal or politically motivated belief.
If an employee qualifies for a religious exemption, the employer must then try to reasonably accommodate the employee. An example of an accommodation would be for the employer to have the employee switch from in-person to remote work while COVID-19 poses risks to public health.
However, the employer does not have to grant an accommodation if doing so would result in “undue hardship.” Typical cases of undue hardship include situations in which the accommodation would compromise the health and safety of other employees or in which implementing the accommodation is too costly or logistically burdensome. In case of a dispute over what constitutes an undue hardship for the employer, a court would typically be asked to resolve it based on the cost of offering the accommodation, as well as how difficult it is for the employer to implement it.
4. How about disability-related exemptions?
The balance of rights between an employee with a disability and her employer is similar to the one described above. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, if an employee has a disability and cannot safely receive a vaccine, that employee qualifies for an exemption and the employer has to provide reasonable accommodations. But the act also establishes that employers do not have to provide an accommodation that would result in undue hardship.
The technical question here was whether employers could impose COVID-19 vaccination because the Americans with Disabilities Act severely limits the ability of employers to require medical examinations. In its Dec. 16 guidance, the EEOC clearly stated that COVID-19 vaccines do not fall in the “medical examination” category.
Therefore, requiring employee vaccination does not violate federal disability law.
5. What if the employer cannot provide an accommodation?
If an employee qualifies for either a religious or disability-related exemption but the employer is unable to provide an accommodation because of undue hardship, then the employer has the right to exclude the employee from going to the workplace.
Given the broad set of rights that the law gives employers in order to promote health and safety, in some cases it is possible for an organization to go even further and terminate employment if a worker refuses vaccination and there is no reasonable way to provide an accommodation. For example, if there is no reasonable accommodation that an employer can provide a barista that would allow her to continue make lattes at the coffee shop where she works, the employer may be able to terminate her employment.
However, the EEOC guidelines explicitly say that the inability to reasonably accommodate an employee does not automatically give the employer the right to fire her. Finding out whether the coffee shop could indeed terminate its unvaccinated barista would depend on a variety of factors, including state law, union agreements and any other potentially applicable requirements at the federal level.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control is starting out the year with another eclectic mix of dogs ready to be adopted.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of German Shepherd, heeler, husky, Labrador Retriever, mastiff, pit bull, shepherd and Yorkshire Terrier.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
This young male mastiff is in kennel No. 18, ID No. 14240. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male mastiff
This young male mastiff has a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 18, ID No. 14240.
This male pit bull is in kennel No. 20, ID No. 14218. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male pit bull
This male pit bull has a short brindle and brown coat.
He is in kennel No. 20, ID No. 14218.
This male husky is in kennel No. 21, ID No. 14194. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male husky
This male husky has a medium-length black and white blue eyes.
He has been spayed.
He’s in kennel No. 21, ID No. 14194.
This male husky is in kennel No. 23, ID No. 14247. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male husky
This male husky has a long gray and white coat and blue eyes.
He is in kennel No. 23, ID No. 14247.
This female pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 24, ID No. 14248. 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. 24, ID No. 14248.
This young male German Shepherd is in kennel No. 25, ID No. 14253. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male German Shepherd
This young male German Shepherd has a long black and tan coat.
Shelter staff said he should not go to a home with livestock.
He is in kennel No. 25, ID No. 14253.
This male Yorkshire Terrier is in kennel No. 27, ID No. 14244. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male Yorkshire Terrier
This male Yorkshire Terrier has a medium-length brown and black coat.
He has been neutered.
He is in kennel No. 27, ID No. 14244.
This male shepherd mix is in kennel No. 28, ID No. 14241. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male shepherd mix
This male shepherd mix has a medium-length tricolor coat.
He has been altered.
He’s in kennel No. 28, ID No. 14241.
This male heeler-Labrador Retriever mix is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 14178. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male heeler-Labrador Retriever
This male heeler-Labrador Retriever mix has a short black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 14178.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.m. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors will bid farewell to its longest-serving member, welcome his successor and select its leadership as it holds its first meeting of the new year this week.
As the meeting gets started at 9 a.m., Supervisor Rob Brown is scheduled to offer remarks and the board will present to him a commendation for his 20 years of service.
The oath of office will then be administered to District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon and District 4 Supervisor Tina Scott, who were reelected to their second terms in last year’s primary, and to new District 5 Supervisor Jessica Pyska, Brown’s successor, who was elected in November.
Afterward, the outgoing chair, Simon, will hold the election for chair and vice chair of the board as well as for the Lake County Board of Equalization and for the Lake County In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority Board of Directors.
At 9:19 a.m., the board is scheduled to reappoint to two-year terms Lake County Planning Commission members John H. Hess III, District 1; Everardo Chavez Perez, District 2; Batsulwin A. Brown, District 3; and Christina Price, District 4; and appoint new District 5 Commissioner Lance Williams.
In other timed items, at 9:35 a.m. the board will present a proclamation designating the month of January 2021 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month in Lake County.
At 9:45 a.m. the board will consider forming the Lake County Agricultural Advisory Committee.
At 10:30 a.m., Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace will give an update on COVID-19.
In an untimed item, the supervisors will consider temporarily closing their board chambers for in-person meetings due to the COVID-19 case surge.
The board also will consider a letter in support of the Lake County Fair, which like other fairs across the state is facing big financial challenges due to the pandemic.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Adopt proclamation commending Rob Brown for 20 years of service as a member of the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
5.2: Adopt resolution approving Agreement No. 20-0709-020-SF with California Department of Food and Agriculture to authorize execution of the Asian Citrus Psyllid Winter Trapping Program in the Amount of $8,647 beginning Oct. 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021.
5.3: Approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Debra Sally DVM for veterinary services for the remainder of the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year in the amount of $8,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.
5.4: Approve agreement between county of Lake and Behavioral Health Services as lead agency of the Lake County Continuum of Care and Elijah House for Fiscal Year 2020-21 in the amount $102,200 and authorize the chair to sign.
5.5: Approve agreement between county of Lake and Behavioral Health Services as lead agency of the Lake County Continuum of Care and Hope Is Rising Lake County for Fiscal Years 2020-21 and 2021-22 in the amount of $220,000 and authorize the chair to sign.
5.6: Adopt resolution to authorize the standard agreement between county of Lake and the Department of Health Care Services for the period of July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2023, and authorizing the Behavioral Health director to sign the standard agreement.
5.7: Adopt proclamation designating the month of January 2021 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month in Lake County.
5.8: Approve amendment to the lease agreement between the county of Lake and the Senate Rules Committee, California Legislature for a district satellite office.
5.9: a) Approve Amendment A1 to Agreement #19-5042 between the county of Lake and California Department of Social Services for resource family approval program services in the amount of $85,120 for the term of July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2021, and b) adopt resolution authorizing the director of Social Services to sign the amendment.
5.10: Approve memorandum of agreement between the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Yuba County Sheriff’s Office for mutual aid provided during the North Complex fire and authorize the sheriff/coroner to sign.
5.11: Approve memorandum of agreement between the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and various entities for mutual aid provided during the LNU Complex fire and authorize the sheriff/coroner to sign.
5.12: (a) Adopt resolution approving the Lake County Sheriff's Office to apply for state of California, Department of Parks and Recreation Off-Highway Vehicle Grant funds and (b) authorize the sheriff/coroner or his designee to sign the project agreement.
5.13: (a) Approve letter of agreement between the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice in the amount of $275,000 for the period Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021; and (b) authorize sheriff to sign the agreement and (c) authorize the chairman to sign workplace certifications and grant assurances.
TIMED ITEMS
6.1, 9 a.m.: Remarks from outgoing Supervisor Rob Brown and presentations/commendations thereto.
6.2, 9:15 a.m.: Administer oath of office to District 1, District 4 and District 5 supervisors.
6.3, 9:16 a.m.: Election of chair of the Board of Supervisors and vice-chair of the Board of Supervisors for 2021 (outgoing chair conducts election).
6.4, 9:17 a.m.: Sitting as the Lake County Board of Equalization, election of chair and vice-chair of the Lake County Local Board of Equalization for 2021.
6.5, 9:18 a.m.: Sitting as the Lake County In-Home Supportive Services, election of chair and vice-chair of the Lake County In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority Board of Directors for 2021.
6.6, 9:19 a.m.: Appoint/reappoint members of the Lake County Planning Commission for a two-year term (a) reappoint District 1 Commissioner John H. Hess III; (b) rReappoint District 2 Commissioner Everardo Chavez Perez; (c) reappoint District 3 Commissioner Batsulwin A. Brown; (d) reappoint District 4 Commissioner Christina Price; and (e) appoint District 5 Commissioner Lance Williams.
6.7, 9:30 a.m.: Public input.
6.8, 9:35 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the month of January 2021 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month in Lake County.
6.9, 9:45 a.m.: Consideration of formation of the Lake County Agricultural Advisory Committee.
6.10, 10:30 a.m.: Consideration of Update on COVID-19.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration of chairman's recommended 2021 committee assignments for members of the Board of Supervisors.
7.3: Consideration of letter of support for Lake County Fairgrounds.
7.4: Consideration of temporarily closing the Board of Supervisors Chambers for in-person meetings.
7.5: (a) Consideration of amendment to the County of Lake COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Worksite Protection Protocol; and (b) consideration of request to form a board ad hoc committee to work with department heads regarding this protocol.
7.6: Consideration of an Agreement between Lake County Health Services and KnoQoti Native Wellness Inc., for RFP #LCHS 20-002 Prevention, Detection and Support: A Lake County COVID-19 Initiative for Native American-Focused Outreach for a one time cost of $70,900 and authorize the board chair to sign.
7.7: Consideration of the following advisory board appointments: Animal Control Advisory Board, Emergency Medical Care Committee, Glenbrook Cemetery District, Hartley Cemetery District, Kelseyville Cemetery District, Lake County Public Authority Advisory Committee, Lake County Resource Conservation District, Lucerne Area Town Hall, Maternal Child and Adolescent Health, Spring Valley CSA No. 2 Advisory Board.
7.8: Discussion of changes to state management standards for treated wood waste and direction to staff for future efforts.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(1) – Citizens for Environmental Protection and Responsible Planning v. County of Lake, et al.
8.2. Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(2) (e)(3) – Claim of Lillie.
8.3: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(1) – Sabalone v. County of Lake.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Clearlake man who was in custody at the Lake County Jail while awaiting transfer to the state prison system died after being found unresponsive in his cell.
Daniel King, 46, was found by Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility staff shortly before midnight on Saturday, according to Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Paulich said other inmates who were sharing the cell with King called for help when they noticed he was not responding to them.
Deputies and medical staff responded to King’s cell and began CPR. Paramedics from the Lakeport Fire Department arrived and took over. However, shortly after 12 a.m. Sunday, King was determined to be deceased, Paulich said.
King had been in custody since late February 2020. Paulich said King was sentenced to four year in state prison in August for a violation of probation related to a domestic violence charge and was awaiting transfer to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Paulich said King had not been transferred to a state facility due to the state prison system’s COVID-19 policy of not accepting sentenced inmates at this time.
King had recently received advanced care from a local medical provider for a medical issue. Paulich said King was last seen by jail medical staff less than an hour before he was found unresponsive.
“King’s death was unexpected and he showed no signs of trauma. At this time there are no indications that COVID-19 was present or a factor in King’s death,” Paulich said.
In the fall, a COVID-19 outbreak was reported at the Lake County Jail, as Lake County News has reported.
In accordance with established in-custody death protocol, Paulich said detectives from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit, as well as investigators from the Lake County District Attorney’s Office, responded to conduct the death investigation.
The investigation is ongoing and the cause of death is pending an autopsy that will be performed later this week, Paulich said.
A suite of ridges on Mars (at –67.64°E, 43.37°S). To determine whether features are ridges or valleys, the researchers rely on lighting in the impact craters (depressions). Based on the craters, the light is coming from the top of the image. Because the fluvial ridges are casting shadows to the south, they can infer that the feature is sticking up from the surface—a ridge rather than a valley. Image courtesy J. Dickson. It took 15 years of imaging and nearly three years of stitching the pieces together to create the largest image ever made, the 8-trillion-pixel mosaic of Mars’ surface.
Now, the first study to utilize the image in its entirety provides unprecedented insight into the ancient river systems that once covered the expansive plains in the planet’s southern hemisphere. These three billion-year-old sedimentary rocks, like those in Earth’s geologic record, could prove valuable targets for future exploration of past climates and tectonics on Mars.
The work, published in December in Geology, complements existing research into Mars’ hydrologic history by mapping ancient fluvial (river) ridges, which are essentially the inverse of a riverbed.
“If you have a river channel, that’s the erosion part of a river. So, by definition, there aren't any deposits there for you to study,” Jay Dickson, lead author on the paper, explained. “You have rivers eroding rocks, so where did those rocks go? These ridges are the other half of the puzzle.”
Using the mosaic, as opposed to more localized imagery, let the researchers solve that puzzle on a global scale.
Mars used to be a wet world, as evidenced by rock records of lakes, rivers, and glaciers. The river ridges were formed between 4 and 3 billion years ago, when large, flat-lying rivers deposited sediments in their channels (rather than only having the water cut away at the surface).
Similar systems today can be found in places like southern Utah and Death Valley in the U.S., and the Atacama Desert in Chile. Over time, sediment built up in the channels; once the water dried up, those ridges were all that was left of some rivers.
The ridges are present only in the southern hemisphere, where some of Mars’ oldest and most rugged terrain is, but this pattern is likely a preservation artifact.
“These ridges probably used to be all over the entire planet, but subsequent processes have buried them or eroded them away,” Dickson said. “The northern hemisphere is very smooth because it’s been resurfaced, primarily by lava flows.”
Additionally, the southern highlands are “some of the flattest surfaces in the solar system,” said Woodward Fischer, who was involved in this work. That exceptional flatness made for good sedimentary deposition, allowing the creation of the records being studied today.
Whether or not a region has fluvial ridges is a basic observation that wasn’t possible until this high-resolution image of the planet’s surface was assembled. Each of the 8 trillion pixels represents 5 to 6 square meters, and coverage is nearly 100 percent, thanks to the “spectacular engineering” of NASA’s context camera that has allowed it to operate continuously for well over a decade.
An earlier attempt to map these ridges was published in 2007 by Rebecca Williams, a co-author on the new study, but that work was limited by imagery coverage and quality.
“The first inventory of fluvial ridges using meter-scale images was conducted on data acquired between 1997 and 2006,” Williams said. “These image strips sampled the planet and provided tantalizing snapshots of the surface, but there was lingering uncertainty about missing fluvial ridges in the data gaps.”
The resolution and coverage of Mars’ surface in the mosaic has eliminated much of the team’s uncertainty, filling in gaps and providing context for the features. The mosaic allows researchers to explore questions at global scales, rather than being limited to patchier, localized studies and extrapolating results to the whole hemisphere.
Much previous research on Mars hydrology has been limited to craters or single systems, where both the sediment source and destination are known. That’s useful, but more context is better in order to really understand a planet’s environmental history and to be more certain in how an individual feature formed.
In addition to identifying 18 new fluvial ridges, using the mosaic image allowed the team to re-examine features that had previously been identified as fluvial ridges. Upon closer inspection, some weren’t formed by rivers after all, but rather lava flows or glaciers.
“If you only see a small part of [a ridge], you might have an idea of how it formed,” Dickson said. “But then you see it in a larger context—like, oh, it’s the flank of a volcano, it’s a lava flow. So now we can more confidently determine which are fluvial ridges, versus ridges formed by other processes.”
Now that we have a global understanding of the distribution of ancient rivers on Mars, future explorations—whether by rover or by astronauts—could use these rock records to investigate what past climates and tectonics were like.
“One of the biggest breakthroughs in the last twenty years is the recognition that Mars has a sedimentary record, which means we’re not limited to studying the planet today,” Fischer said. “We can ask questions about its history.”
And in doing so, he says, we learn not only about a single planet’s past, but also find “truths about how planets evolved … and why the Earth is habitable.”
As this study is only the first to use the full mosaic, Dickson looks forward to seeing how it gets put to use next. “We expect to see more and more studies, similar in scale to what we're doing here, by other researchers around the world,” he said. “We hope that this ‘maiden voyage’ scientific study sets an example for the scale of science that can be done with a product this big.”
A similar, “analogue” environment on Earth. Fluvial ridges similar to the ones on Mars are in California’s Amargosa river system, although with water still running through the system, it’s the active precursor to the ridges that are remnant on Mars. Image courtesy J. Dickson.
