The only ones who hate rainy, cold weather more than children who have to stay indoors, cooped up, are their parents who have to endure that caged energy.

It’s even worse for teachers, who don’t even have the benefit of parental love and affection to mitigate their frustration at the frenzied little monsters, who unaccountably possess their classrooms on dark winter days.

Adversity, they say, is the mother of invention.

That certainly was the case during a cold December in 1891 Massachusetts, when James Naismith, a physical educator at the YMCA’s School for Christian Workers in Springfield, faced down a room of energetic youth.

It was snowing outside – hard. There was no way he was going to able to get his students to release their energy in the usual manner – you know, running long distances and other devices of torture that remain the object of pain in P.E. classes to this day.

The director of the physical education department tasked Naismith with the job of coming up with a game that the young boys could play indoors. Something that included plenty of running, of course, and good competition. Naismith had two weeks before presenting a polished final product.

Naismith himself had come from McGill University only recently, having left the Canadian college as the athletics director. The YMCA offered him a wider reach, since the youth organization had a national and, increasingly, international, reach. Hoping to impress his new employer, Naismith went right to work on his new task.

He tinkered with a few different ideas for several days before he remembered a game from his childhood. “Duck on a Rock,” was a game that included one of the most cherished activities of any young boy: throwing rocks.

In this game, the object was to knock a large rock from off the other team’s boulder before they did the same to yours. With a stone in hand, the boys would run around, passing the rock from one teammate to the other, before getting close enough to the opponents’ side to throw it and – ping! – knock off the opponents’ big rock. Simple, destructive and competitive – perfect.

Of course, Naismith couldn’t have his boys throwing rocks around inside the gymnasium, so he made some adjustments.

Naismith had the school custodian nail two peach baskets to the railing of a 10-foot-high balcony that ran around the school gymnasium. Since his class had 18 students, he divided them up into two teams of nine and explained to the players that they would score points by throwing the soccer ball into the opposing team’s basket.

“The first words were not very encouraging,” remembered Naismith years later, “when one of the class made the remark, ‘Humph, a new game.’ I asked the boys to tri it once as a favor to me. They started, and after the ball was first thrown up there was no need for further coaxing.”

The game was an instant favorite. Now it needed a name. One of the students suggested “Naismithball” as an option but, thankfully, that was voted down in favor of “basketball.”

Over the next decade or so, some things were refined in the new sport. For instance, in the first edition, the baskets didn’t have holes in them, so each time a team scored a point, they’d have to climb up and retrieve their ball.

Naismith wrote a rulebook on his new sport and the YMCA began marketing the game across the country to all of its branch locations. Shortly thereafter, they presented the game internationally in 1904 when they presented the game as a demonstration sport during the Summer Olympics in St. Louis.

By then James Naismith had moved on from the YMCA. More interested in physical education, Naismith went back to school and in 1898 earned a medical degree.

He wasn’t just going to let his invention go at that, however. After school, he went to the University of Kansas where he founded a basketball program. Over the next four decades, Naismith would initiate a long line of prestigious basketball coaches and players, including Phog Allen, who would eventually famously coach rock star players-turned coaches Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp and Ralph Miller.

Naismith would live long enough to see his sport officially join the Olympics and to see the birth of the NCAA tournament in 1939.

He died that year, at the age of 78, having forever made his mark in the field of sports and – more importantly – giving parents and teachers everywhere an outlet for their caged-in kids on stormy winter days.

Antone Pierucci is curator of history at the Riverside County Park and Open Space District and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.

Santa Claus will soon be coming to town, bringing gifts to children.

Santa has several aliases, depending on the part of the world you live in. The English call him Father Christmas, the French know him as Père Noël, and Kris Kringle seems be a version of the Christkind, or Christ Child, who leaves treats for good German Lutherans.

In the Netherlands, he arrives in town on a steamboat or horse from Spain. On the night of Dec. 5, Dutch children put their shoes on the hearth – these days near the central heating duct – hoping that he will fill them with sweet rewards rather than a reprimand for poor behavior. The Dutch call him Sinterklaas – which has come into American English as ‘Santa Claus’ – short for Sint Nicolaas or St. Nicholas.

St. Nicholas and Santa Claus are historically the same man. But unlike the jolly figure who purportedly flies on a sleigh from the North Pole, the saint came originally from the balmy Mediterranean coast.

Who was St. Nicholas really?

As a historian of religions who has written books about ancient saints, I caution against reading accounts of saints’ lives as factual history. However, the earliest stories of St. Nicholas seem to correlate with histories and church documents of the period.

According to these early medieval texts, Nicholas was born around 260 A.D. into a Christian family. His birthplace was near the town of Myra, now called Demre, on the southwest coast of modern Turkey. At the time, Christianity was illegal under the Roman empire.

He studied to be a priest and spent time in prison for his beliefs. However, after Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, Nicholas was elected Bishop of Myra.

During his lifetime, he became famous for defending his people against imperial taxes and other forms of oppression. According to the earliest document about Nicholas, from the fifth century, he prevented three loyal generals from unjust execution for treason.

A ninth-century Greek legend claims he revived three scholars who had been murdered and stashed in a pickling tub. He also saved three girls whose poverty-stricken father wanted to sell them into prostitution.

After his death, people believed that Nicholas continued to work miracles. His burial place, below the floor of his church, became a popular destination for pilgrims who begged Nicholas to relay their petitions to God.

Proof that Nicholas was listening, they believed, was in the “manna” – holy oil or water – that dripped from the tomb. Pilgrims took this manna home in little bottles or used rags to sop up the moisture that dripped from the saint’s tomb in its subterranean crypt. This was a common pilgrimage practice at Christian shrines.

Visitors to the coastal town of Myra spread Nicholas’ fame along sea routes across the Mediterranean. From there, word passed to the Latin West, and upriver to Russia. Soon, pilgrims from all over Christendom were journeying to Myra to seek the gifts of protection and healing from the saint, who was said to be especially attentive to children.

Italians steal the body

This pilgrimage was disrupted in the 11th century when Seljuk Turks invaded Anatolia. Christians feared that the Muslims who now governed Demre would disregard the saint’s tomb. So, one crew of pious Italian Christians decided to take action.

In 1087, three ships laden with grain set out from Bari, on Italy’s southeast coast, bound for Antioch. However, according to a monk named Nicephorus who wrote immediately after the event, their real mission was to steal St. Nicholas’ body.

In Antioch they heard a rumor that the Venetians too were planning a similar heist. The Barian sailors hastily sold off their grain and headed for Myra in search of St. Nicholas’ church. Priestly custodians there became suspicious when the sailors asked to see the saint’s body.

The Barians claimed that the pope had a vision directing him to fetch Nicholas to Italy. When the priests refused, they offered gold for the relics, but the offer “was tossed aside like dung.” Done with arguing, the Barians caught and bound the priests. Suddenly, a phial of manna fell to the pavement and broke. It seemed that St. Nicholas spoke to them: “It is my will that I leave here with you.”

So, the Barians broke through marble floor with picks and hammers. A delicious aroma filled the church as they opened the tomb. They found the bones swimming in a small sea of manna. They carefully wrapped the relics in a silk case brought for the purpose.

Nicephorus describes how they fled to their ship, pursued by outraged priests and a howling crowd of citizens demanding that they “give back the father who has by his protection kept us safe from visible foes.”

Yet the crew made it back to the harbor at Bari, where the townsfolk and clergy processed, singing joyous hymns, to greet the saint.

St. Nicholas gets a reputation

A new church was built for Nicholas in the court of the governor of Bari. A few years later, Pope Urban II — the one who would preach the First Crusade – formally enshrined the relics of the saint.

The Barians believed that manna continued to ooze from Nicholas’ coffin. And going by the claim on the basilica’s website, the belief persists to this day.

Within a decade of the saint’s arrival in 1087, the Basilica di San Nicola was one of Europe’s most popular pilgrimage destinations. May 9 is still celebrated as the day that Nicholas moved shrines or was “translated.”

For at least five centuries, the region, which includes Bari and its saint, was caught in constant wars for possession of southern Italy. In 1500, Bari fell into the hands of King Ferdinand of Aragon, whose marriage to Queen Isabella of Spain created a global naval power.

Because Nicholas was a patron saint of sailors, Spanish sailors and explorers carried stories of the saint wherever they went: Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida and other ports around the world.

Even the Dutch, who rebelled against Catholic Spain and formed a Calvinist republic in 1581, somehow maintained their devotion to Sinterklass. In other parts of Europe, St. Nicholas lost his feast day but his concern for children helped link him to the gift-giving tradition of another December feast day: Christmas.

How true is this story?

In the 1950s, Italian scientists examined the bones enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola, seeking evidence of authenticity.

They found the skull and incomplete skeleton of a man, dating to around the fourth century. More recent technology has allowed experts to use the bones to reconstruct Nicholas’ face – he looks like an old Greek man with a broad, worn face. He lacks the rosy cheeks and Anglo-Germanic features of modern Christmas decorations, but like the Santa Claus of greeting cards, he was probably bald.

Turkish archaeologists now claim that the Italians stole the wrong body and that Nicholas’ remains never left Demre. They have discovered another sarcophagus dating to the fourth century in the same church, which they claim contains the saint.

Meanwhile, historians have suggested that the story of Nicholas’ translation is a fiction purposely created to advertise a new pilgrimage center in the 11th century. Although relic theft was common in the Middle Ages, grave-robbers often made mistakes or lied about the authenticity and source of their bones. Nothing in the shrine at Bari proves that the bones inside belong to the fourth-century Bishop Nicholas.

Still, this holiday season, when you tell your children about Santa Claus, why not include the tale of Santa’s well-traveled bones? And don’t forget the manna, which is believed to still flow in Bari.

Lisa Bitel, Professor of History & Religion, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

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

For the second time in history, a human-made object has reached the space between the stars. NASA’s Voyager 2 probe now has exited the heliosphere – the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the Sun.

Comparing data from different instruments aboard the trailblazing spacecraft, mission scientists determined the probe crossed the outer edge of the heliosphere on Nov. 5.

This boundary, called the heliopause, is where the tenuous, hot solar wind meets the cold, dense interstellar medium. Its twin, Voyager 1, crossed this boundary in 2012, but Voyager 2 carries a working instrument that will provide first-of-its-kind observations of the nature of this gateway into interstellar space.

Voyager 2 now is slightly more than 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) from Earth. Mission operators still can communicate with Voyager 2 as it enters this new phase of its journey, but information – moving at the speed of light – takes about 16.5 hours to travel from the spacecraft to Earth. By comparison, light traveling from the Sun takes about eight minutes to reach Earth.

The most compelling evidence of Voyager 2’s exit from the heliosphere came from its onboard Plasma Science Experiment, or PLS, an instrument that stopped working on Voyager 1 in 1980, long before that probe crossed the heliopause.

Until recently, the space surrounding Voyager 2 was filled predominantly with plasma flowing out from our Sun. This outflow, called the solar wind, creates a bubble – the heliosphere – that envelopes the planets in our solar system.

The PLS uses the electrical current of the plasma to detect the speed, density, temperature, pressure and flux of the solar wind.

The PLS aboard Voyager 2 observed a steep decline in the speed of the solar wind particles on Nov. 5. Since that date, the plasma instrument has observed no solar wind flow in the environment around Voyager 2, which makes mission scientists confident the probe has left the heliosphere.

In addition to the plasma data, Voyager’s science team members have seen evidence from three other onboard instruments – the cosmic ray subsystem, the low energy charged particle instrument and the magnetometer – that is consistent with the conclusion that Voyager 2 has crossed the heliopause.

Voyager’s team members are eager to continue to study the data from these other onboard instruments to get a clearer picture of the environment through which Voyager 2 is traveling.

“There is still a lot to learn about the region of interstellar space immediately beyond the heliopause,” said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist based at Caltech in Pasadena, California.

Together, the two Voyagers provide a detailed glimpse of how our heliosphere interacts with the constant interstellar wind flowing from beyond. Their observations complement data from NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer, a mission that is remotely sensing that boundary. NASA also is preparing an additional mission – the upcoming Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, due to launch in 2024 – to capitalize on the Voyagers’ observations.

“Voyager has a very special place for us in our heliophysics fleet,” said Nicola Fox, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. “Our studies start at the Sun and extend out to everything the solar wind touches. To have the Voyagers sending back information about the edge of the Sun’s influence gives us an unprecedented glimpse of truly uncharted territory.”

While the probes have left the heliosphere, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have not yet left the solar system, and won’t be leaving anytime soon.

The boundary of the solar system is considered to be beyond the outer edge of the Oort Cloud, a collection of small objects that are still under the influence of the Sun’s gravity.

The width of the Oort Cloud is not known precisely, but it is estimated to begin at about 1,000 astronomical units, or AU, from the Sun and to extend to about 100,000 AU. One AU is the distance from the Sun to Earth.

It will take about 300 years for Voyager 2 to reach the inner edge of the Oort Cloud and possibly 30,000 years to fly beyond it.

The Voyager probes are powered using heat from the decay of radioactive material, contained in a device called a radioisotope thermal generator, or RTG. The power output of the RTGs diminishes by about four watts per year, which means that various parts of the Voyagers, including the cameras on both spacecraft, have been turned off over time to manage power.

“I think we’re all happy and relieved that the Voyager probes have both operated long enough to make it past this milestone,” said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “This is what we've all been waiting for. Now we’re looking forward to what we’ll be able to learn from having both probes outside the heliopause.”

Voyager 2 launched in 1977, 16 days before Voyager 1, and both have traveled well beyond their original destinations. The spacecraft were built to last five years and conduct close-up studies of Jupiter and Saturn.

However, as the mission continued, additional flybys of the two outermost giant planets, Uranus and Neptune, proved possible.

As the spacecraft flew across the solar system, remote-control reprogramming was used to endow the Voyagers with greater capabilities than they possessed when they left Earth.

Their two-planet mission became a four-planet mission. Their five-year lifespans have stretched to 41 years, making Voyager 2 NASA’s longest running mission.

The Voyager story has impacted not only generations of current and future scientists and engineers, but also Earth's culture, including film, art and music. Each spacecraft carries a Golden Record of Earth sounds, pictures and messages. Since the spacecraft could last billions of years, these circular time capsules could one day be the only traces of human civilization.

Voyager’s mission controllers communicate with the probes using NASA’s Deep Space Network, or DSN, a global system for communicating with interplanetary spacecraft. The DSN consists of three clusters of antennas in Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia.

The Voyager Interstellar Mission is a part of NASA’s Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL built and operates the twin Voyager spacecraft.

NASA’s DSN, managed by JPL, is an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also supports selected Earth-orbiting missions.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia’s national science agency, operates both the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, part of the DSN, and the Parkes Observatory, which NASA has been using to downlink data from Voyager 2 since Nov. 8.

For more information about the Voyager mission, visit https://www.nasa.gov/voyager. More information about NASA’s Heliophysics missions is available online at https://www.nasa.gov/sunearth.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Thursday night council the Clearlake City Council bid farewell to one of its members, two council members took their oaths and the mayor and vice mayor were chosen for 2019.

At the start of the meeting, the council honored outgoing Mayor Bruno Sabatier.

Sabatier, now at the end of his first term, leaves the council to take a seat on the Board of Supervisors as the District 2 representative. He will succeed longtime Supervisor Jeff Smith.

Sabatier’s vice mayor, Phil Harris, and City Manager Greg Folsom lauded Sabatier for his work on the council and presented him with a plaque.

He thanked the community for giving him the opportunity to serve on the council.

“This has been the best experience I’ve ever had in my life,” said Sabatier.

He thanked each of the council members individually for their help, from Joyce Overton’s mentoring and assistance in creating the Power to the Youth event, Nick Bennett’s kindness and welcoming spirit, Harris’ leadership and friendship, and Cremer’s willingness to work together and share a different perspective in a friendly way.

“I think that you’re a perfect replacement,” he told Dirk Slooten, who along with Cremer was elected to the council last month.

Sabatier returned to the dais briefly for some final business, including the swearing-in of new police personnel.

Then City Clerk Melissa Swanson presented a resolution accepting the official canvass results that certify the election results, which the council approved.

Swanson then administered the oath of office to Cremer and Slooten.

Cremer was appointed earlier this year to fill a vacancy on the council that resulted from the resignation of Russell Perdock. He ran successfully to keep his seat.

Slooten, a native of the Netherlands, retired businessman and a longtime city planning commissioner, is, like Cremer, active in the Clearlake Rotary Club. He was the top vote getter in the November election.

As Rotarians, both Cremer and Slooten have been active in raising funds for fire recovery.

After the two men took their oaths, Sabatier stepped down from the dais and Cremer and Slooten took their seats.

During the course of two-hour meeting, the council held two public hearings on commercial cannabis operations, picked a city photo contest winner, discussed an automated license plate recognition program and a contract for a transportation improvement program study.

The council also held the first reading of an ordinance to amend the Clearlake Municipal Code regarding sidewalk vendors and door-to-door sales and city code regulating itinerant businesses, and approved an amendment to the contract with Foster Morrison to add the Lake County Fire Protection District to the Clearlake Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and the fourth amendment to the employment services agreement for City Manager Greg Folsom.

At the end of the meeting, when it came time to choose the coming year’s leadership, Slooten moved to appoint Bennett as mayor and Cremer as vice mayor.

Harris, who chaired the meeting following Sabatier’s departure, seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.

The terms of the mayor and vice mayor are for a 12-month period commencing on Jan. 1, unless otherwise decided by a majority of the council.

As the meeting drew to a close, Folsom thanked the council and staff for a great year.

“I think we got a lot accomplished this year,” said Folsom. “We’re really proud of everything that we’ve done. I think that we’ve really made a difference in the way that clearlake’s going and the way that Clearlake's being perceived throughout the county.”

He also thanked Sabatier again for what he had done for the city.

Bennett said Sabatier had set a high mark. “I will try to reach it.”

He also offered praise for city staff and fellow council members and how they work together in their efforts to improve the community.

“We are really blessed with what we have here,” Bennett said.

Folsom said later, “During my career in Clearlake I’ve had the good fortune and great privilege of working with excellent council members who take their responsibilities seriously and who have a unified vision of improving this city. Bruno Sabatier, Russ Perdock and Denise Loustalot have all been great to work with as mayors and I’m looking forward to working with our next mayor, Nick Bennett, next vice mayor, Russ Cremer, and the rest of the council in continuing the momentum that we have built in improving the city of Clearlake.”

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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Cal Fire announced on Friday that its director is stepping down.

Chief Ken Pimlott announced his retirement, effective Dec. 14.

Chief Pimlott was appointed to director on July 12, 2011, by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. after serving as the acting director since November 2010.

Chief Pimlott has 30 years of fire service experience with Cal Fire. He began his career at age 17 as a reserve firefighter in Contra Costa County.

Prior to being appointed to director, Chief Pimlott was the deputy director of fire protection, responsible for Cal Fire's Statewide Fire Protection Programs.

The agency reported that Chief Pimlott brought extensive knowledge and experience, as well as exceptional leadership to the department during his tenure.

“While serving as director, Chief Pimlott accomplished a long list of achievements that will set the stage for Cal Fire moving forward,” said Acting Director Chief Thom Porter. “For all that Chief Pimlott has accomplished, we are thankful for his service to Cal Fire and to the citizens of California.”

Chief Thom Porter has been announced as acting director on the heels of Chief Pimlott’s retirement.

Chief Porter is currently serving as chief of strategic planning. He was appointed Southern Region Chief on June 1, 2015, by Chief Pimlott. He began his career with Cal Fire in 1999, as a Forester I in the Forestry Assistance Program at the Southern Operations Center.

In 2001, he transferred to the San Diego Unit where he worked as the Urban and Community Forestry and then Unit Forester, responsible for the unit vegetation management and pre-fire programs. Chief Porter promoted to Forester II in 2002, leading the multi-agency collaborative Forest Area Safety Taskforce and Border Area Fire Council.

Chief Porter promoted to Forestry and Fire Protection Administrator in 2008, and was assigned to the Southern Operations Center in Riverside, where he coordinated the regional delivery of the department's Resource Management Programs, including fuels management grant programs.

In 2012, he promoted to unit chief of the San Diego Unit, where he was also the county fire authority fire chief. Chief Porter promoted to assistant region chief for the Southern Region on Dec. 1, 2013.

Prior to his Cal Fire career, Chief Porter worked as a forester in the timber industry in Washington, Oregon and California, developing timber harvesting plans, including planning and directing prescribed burning and company safety programs in all three states.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in forest management from the University of California Berkeley and is a Registered Professional Forester.

With nearly 20,000 homes and structures damaged or destroyed by the Camp, Woolsey and Hill fires, residents in counties across Northern and Southern California are getting access to burned home sites to confirm the terrible reality of their losses and begin the long road to insurance recovery.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones this week announced the results of claims data collected by the Department of Insurance from insurers processing fire related insurance claims for tens of thousands of policyholders.

While the numbers are expected to climb, as more claims are filed and processed, the preliminary claims data reflects $9.05 billion in actual losses for commercial and residential coverage, personal and commercial vehicles, and agricultural and other coverages.

"The devastating wildfires of 2018 were the deadliest and costliest wildfire catastrophes in California's history," said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. "The tragic deaths of 88 people and over $9 billion in insured losses to date are shocking numbers-behind the insured loss numbers are thousands of people who've been traumatized by unfathomable loss."

The announcement reflects the actual insured losses reported by insurers to date. The department will update loss figures in the coming months as insurers report more data. It is anticipated that, as both insurers and policyholders continue to access burn areas and claims are amended, insured losses will rise.

Commissioner Jones visited towns and neighborhoods burned by the wildfires and took immediate action to assist wildfire survivors by dispatching his consumer services team to every local assistance center to personally meet with consumers and help them begin the claims process and answer questions about department resources.

Jones also issued a formal notice to insurers asking them to expedite claims, by cutting through red tape, issuing checks immediately for four months of out of pocket costs, and doing all they can do to help policyholders who are likely to have little or no documentation that insurers normally require.

Jones also issued a declaration of an emergency, which allows the insurers to tap out-of-state claims adjusters from their other offices to deal with the huge volume of claims. This is an important step in increasing the claims processing capacity for insurers and helping speed the recovery and rebuilding process.

At the same time, Jones issued a formal notice to insurers that they are responsible for making sure out of state staff are trained in California's stronger consumer protection laws.

Jones deployed detectives from the Department of Insurance to the burned communities to deter scam artists who prey on vulnerable fire survivors. Jones also issued an important caution for wildfire survivors.

Be careful to check the license of contractors who solicit your business-this is done quickly on the Contractors State License Board using a smart device.

Jones also noted that public adjusters are restricted from soliciting business from residents until seven days after evacuation orders are lifted.

Consumers that have any questions or difficulty with their insurer should contact the department's consumer services team at 800-927-4357 or at the Local Assistance Centers.

In the wake of the 2017 fires, the Department was able to obtain over $52 million for fire survivors in addition to amounts the insurers were already paying for claims.

Scotch pines on a Christmas tree farm in northern Michigan. Bert Cregg, CC BY-ND

Environmentally conscious consumers often ask me whether a real Christmas tree or an artificial one is the more sustainable choice. As a horticulture and forestry researcher, I know this question is also a concern for the Christmas tree industry, which is wary of losing market share to artificial trees.

And they have good reason: Of the 48.5 million Christmas trees Americans purchased in 2017, 45 percent were artificial, and that share is growing. Many factors can influence this choice, but the bottom line is that both real and artificial Christmas trees have negligible environmental impacts. Which option “wins” in terms of carbon footprint depends entirely on assumptions about how long consumers would keep an artificial tree versus how far they would drive each year to purchase a real tree.

From seedling to wood chipper

Many consumers believe real Christmas trees are harvested from wild forest stands and that this process contributes to deforestation. In fact, the vast majority of Christmas trees are grown on farms for that express purpose.

To estimate the total impact of something like a Christmas tree, researchers use a method called life cycle assessment to develop a “cradle to grave” accounting of inputs and outputs required to produce, use and dispose of it. For natural Christmas trees, this covers everything from planting seedlings to harvesting the trees and disposing of them, including equipment use, fertilizer and pesticide applications, and water consumption for irrigation.

Life cycle assessments often will also estimate a system’s carbon footprint. Fuel use is the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Christmas tree production. Using 1 gallon of gas or diesel to power a tractor or delivery truck releases 20 to 22 pounds (9 to 10 kilograms) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

On the positive side, Christmas trees absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere as they grow, which helps to offset emissions from operations. Carbon represents about 50 percent of the dry weight of the wood in a tree at harvest. According to recent estimates, Christmas tree-sized conifers store roughly 20 pounds of carbon dioxide in their above-ground tissue and likely store similar amounts below ground in their roots.

However, using 1 gallon of gasoline produces about the same amount of carbon dioxide, so if a family drives 10 miles each way to get their real tree, they likely have already offset the carbon sequestered by the tree. Buying a tree closer to home or at a tree lot along your daily commute can reduce or eliminate this impact.

And natural trees have other impacts. In 2009, Scientific American specifically called out the Christmas tree industry for greenwashing, because growers’ press releases touted carbon uptake from Christmas tree plantations while ignoring pesticide use and carbon dioxide emissions from plantation management, harvesting and shipping.

Is synthetic better?

Artificial trees have a different set of impacts. Although many people think shipping trees from factories in China takes a lot of energy, ocean shipping is actually very efficient. The largest energy use in artificial trees is in manufacturing.

Producing the polyvinyl chloride and metals that are used to make artificial trees generates greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. China is working to reduce pollution from its chemical industry, but this may drive up the prices of those materials and the goods made from them.

Moreover, to consider sustainability from a broader perspective, production of real Christmas trees supports local communities and economies in the United States, whereas purchasing artificial trees principally supports manufacturers in China.

Going head to head

Recently the American Christmas Tree Association, which represents artificial tree manufacturers, commissioned a life cycle assessment comparing real and artificial Christmas trees. The analysis considered environmental aspects of sustainability, but did not examine social or economic impacts.

The report concluded that the environmental ‘break-even’ point between a real Christmas tree and an artificial tree was 4.7 years. In other words, consumers would need to keep artificial trees for five years to offset the environmental impact of purchasing a real tree each year.

One major shortcoming of this analysis was that it ignored the contribution of tree roots – which farmers typically leave in the ground after harvest – to soil carbon storage. This omission could have a significant impact on the break-even analysis, given that increasing soil organic matter by just one percent can sequester 11,600 pounds of carbon per acre.

Reuse or recycle your tree

Consumers can’t affect how farmers grow their live trees or how manufacturers produce artificial versions, but they can control what happens after Christmas to the trees they purchase. For artificial trees, that means reusing them as many times as possible. For natural trees, it means recycling them.

This is essential to optimize the carbon footprint of a real tree. Grinding used Christmas trees and using them for mulch returns organic matter to the soil, and can contribute to building soil carbon. Many public works departments across the United States routinely collect and chip used Christmas trees after the holidays. If local tree recycling is not available, trees can be chipped and added to compost piles. They also can be placed in backyards or ponds to provide bird or fish habitat.

In contrast, if a used tree is tossed into a bonfire, all of its carbon content is immediately returned to the air as carbon dioxide. This also applies to culled trees on tree farms. And if used trees are placed in landfills, their carbon content will ultimately return to atmosphere as methane because of the way materials buried in landfills break down. Methane is a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a century, so this is the most environmentally harmful way to dispose of a used tree.

All kinds of factors influence choices about Christmas trees, from fresh trees’ scent to family traditions, travel plans and the desire to support farmers or buy locally. Regardless of your choice, the key to relieving environmental angst is planning to reuse or recycle your tree. Then you can focus on gifts to put under it.

Bert Cregg, Professor of Horticulture and Forestry, Michigan State University

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

Recently analyzed data from NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, mission has revealed water locked inside the clays that make up its scientific target, the asteroid Bennu.

During the mission’s approach phase, between mid-August and early December, the spacecraft traveled 1.4 million miles (2.2 million km) on its journey from Earth to arrive at a location 12 miles (19 km) from Bennu on Dec. 3.

During this time, the science team on Earth aimed three of the spacecraft’s instruments towards Bennu and began making the mission’s first scientific observations of the asteroid. OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission.

Data obtained from the spacecraft’s two spectrometers, the OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer, or OVIRS, and the OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer, reveal the presence of molecules that contain oxygen and hydrogen atoms bonded together, known as “hydroxyls.”

The team suspects that these hydroxyl groups exist globally across the asteroid in water-bearing clay minerals, meaning that at some point, Bennu’s rocky material interacted with water. While Bennu itself is too small to have ever hosted liquid water, the finding does indicate that liquid water was present at some time on Bennu’s parent body, a much larger asteroid.

“The presence of hydrated minerals across the asteroid confirms that Bennu, a remnant from early in the formation of the solar system, is an excellent specimen for the OSIRIS-REx mission to study the composition of primitive volatiles and organics,” said Amy Simon, OVIRS deputy instrument scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “When samples of this material are returned by the mission to Earth in 2023, scientists will receive a treasure trove of new information about the history and evolution of our solar system.”

Additionally, data obtained from the OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite, or OCAMS, corroborate ground-based telescopic observations of Bennu and confirm the original model developed in 2013 by OSIRIS-REx Science Team Chief Michael Nolan and collaborators. That model closely predicted the asteroid’s actual shape, with Bennu’s diameter, rotation rate, inclination, and overall shape presented almost exactly as projected.

One outlier from the predicted shape model is the size of the large boulder near Bennu’s south pole. The ground-based shape model calculated this boulder to be at least 33 feet (10 meters) in height. Preliminary calculations from OCAMS observations show that the boulder is closer to 164 feet (50 meters) in height, with a width of approximately 180 feet (55 meters).

Bennu’s surface material is a mix of very rocky, boulder-filled regions and a few relatively smooth regions that lack boulders. However, the quantity of boulders on the surface is higher than expected. The team will make further observations at closer ranges to more accurately assess where a sample can be taken on Bennu to later be returned to Earth.

“Our initial data show that the team picked the right asteroid as the target of the OSIRIS-REx mission. We have not discovered any insurmountable issues at Bennu so far,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. “The spacecraft is healthy and the science instruments are working better than required. It is time now for our adventure to begin.”

The mission currently is performing a preliminary survey of the asteroid, flying the spacecraft in passes over Bennu’s north pole, equator, and south pole at ranges as close as 4.4 miles (7 km) to better determine the asteroid’s mass.

The mission’s scientists and engineers must know the mass of the asteroid in order to design the spacecraft’s insertion into orbit because mass affects the asteroid’s gravitational pull on the spacecraft. Knowing Bennu’s mass will also help the science team understand the asteroid’s structure and composition.

This survey also provides the first opportunity for the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA), an instrument contributed by the Canadian Space Agency, to make observations, now that the spacecraft is in proximity to Bennu.

The spacecraft’s first orbital insertion is scheduled for Dec. 31, and OSIRIS-REx will remain in orbit until mid-February 2019, when it exits to initiate another series of flybys for the next survey phase. During the first orbital phase, the spacecraft will orbit the asteroid at a range of 0.9 miles (1.4 km) to 1.24 miles (2.0 km) from the center of Bennu — setting new records for the smallest body ever orbited by a spacecraft and the closest orbit of a planetary body by any spacecraft.

For more information about OSIRIS-REx, visit https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Community members are being alerted to cases of chickenpox that have been reported in Upper Lake.

The county of Lake said there has been one health care-provider diagnosed case of chickenpox and one possible case – pending diagnosis – at Upper Lake Middle School.

These two children were sent home from school with blister-like rashes on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Lake County residents are urged to be alert for symptoms of chickenpox in their children.

Health officials offered the following information about chickenpox.

During the chickenpox incubation period, symptoms usually appear 14 to 16 days after exposure. The rash first appears on the trunk (stomach and back) and spreads to the face, arms and legs. The rash appears to be small water blisters. Your child may have a fever or stomach ache for the few days before the rash appears.

In a day or two, the rash will form crusts that will remain for a few days. As the blisters spread, some will be healing as new ones appear. Your child needs to remain home until all the blisters are crusted over, as they are contagious until that time.

Many children have received the chickenpox vaccine; however, children who have been vaccinated may develop a milder case with only a few lesions and may not feel ill at all.

Treatment usually involves symptom relief with no specific medication. However, antiviral medications are recommended for people with chickenpox who are more likely to develop serious disease, including otherwise healthy people older than 12 years of age, people with chronic skin or lung disease, people receiving steroid therapy and pregnant women.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “children who lack evidence of immunity and whose parents refuse vaccination should be excluded from school from the start of the outbreak through 21 days after rash onset of the last identified case.”

The CDC also states, “One dose of the varicella vaccine has been used successfully for outbreak prevention and control in school settings. A second dose is now recommended for outbreak control. Children who are vaccinated with a first or second dose during an outbreak may immediately return to school after vaccination.”

If your child attends Upper Lake Middle School and has not received varicella/chickenpox vaccine, your child should be vaccinated immediately, health officials sai.

If you do not wish your child to be unvaccinated or your child cannot be vaccinated due to medical reasons, your child should be kept home from school for 21 days after rash onset of the last identified case of chickenpox.

Parents are urged to speak with their medical providers about the option of medication that can be given to prevent chickenpox.

Some people are more likely to have a serious case of chickenpox. Call a health care provider if:

– The person at risk of serious complications: This includes those less than 1 year old, older than 12 years of age, anyone who has a weakened immune system or is pregnant; or

– They develop any of the following symptoms: fever that lasts longer than four days; fever that rises above 102°F (38.9°C); any areas of the rash or any part of the body becomes very red, warm, or tender, or begins leaking pus (thick, discolored fluid), since these symptoms may indicate a bacterial infection; extreme illness; difficult waking up or confused demeanor; difficulty walking; stiff neck; frequent vomiting; difficulty breathing; severe cough; severe abdominal pain; or rash with bleeding or bruising (hemorrhagic rash).

For any questions or to report a suspected case of chickenpox, please call the Lake County Public Health Department at 707-263-1090.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Community members are invited to attend wreath-laying ceremonies at local cemeteries on Saturday morning that will honor the men and women who have served the country in the military.

The ceremonies are part of the annual Wreaths Across America commemoration, as Lake County News has reported.

The courage and sacrifice of our military veterans should never be forgotten.

You can show them your appreciation and gratitude when citizens across the country come together to remember the fallen, honor those who serve and teach our children the value of freedom.

The ceremonies will take place at 8:50 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, at the Hartley, Kelseyville, Upper Lake, Lower Lake and St. Mary’s cemeteries.

This year’s theme is “Be Their Witness.” You’ll be joining fellow patriots as they say their names and show support for their families.

The truck being driven by volunteer veterans will be delivering wreaths to all of the cemeteries where ceremonies will be held on Friday morning.

Watch for the truck – it will stand out as it is escorted through Lakeport and Kelseyville.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Due to the election of Planning Commissioner Dirk Slooten to the Clearlake City Council, the city is accepting applications for the open position on the Clearlake Planning Commission.

Planning commissioners are appointed by the City Clearlake Council to review matters related to planning and development.

Recent issues have included the general plan update; a service station expansion; commercial cannabis; large family day-care centers; commercial signage; and much more.

“We are looking for residents who have an interest in the growth of Clearlake and want to be involved in land use decisions as we move forward,” said City Manager Greg Folsom. “We are updating our Zoning Ordinances and expecting additional development projects soon.”

The Clearlake Planning Commission meets on the first and third Tuesdays. Applicants must be a resident of the city of Clearlake in order to be appointed to the Planning Commission.

Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 14, and the council will consider appointing an applicant shortly thereafter.

Applications are available at Clearlake City Hall or on the city’s Web site.

For more information contact City Clerk Melissa Swanson at 707-994-8201 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

State Controller Betty T. Yee has updated her Government Compensation in California Web site to include 2017 self-reported data for K-12 education employers, including public school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education – a total of nearly 413,000 positions and almost $16.28 billion in wages.

While cities, counties, and special districts are required to report salary and benefits data to the State Controller, K-12 education employers are voluntary reporters.

The State Controller’s Office requested data from 1,931 K-12 education employers and 527 filed reports. Of those reports, 440 were complete.

In Lake County, these districts reported the following information.

– Konocti Unified: 658 employees; total wages, $21,396,540; total retirement and health contributions, $8,508,091.
– Lake County Office of Education: 315 employees; total wages, $6,228,593; total retirement and health contributions, $1,750,746.
– Upper Lake Unified: 184 employees; total wages, $5,245,487; total retirement and health contributions, $2,021,979
– Lucerne Elementary: 78 employees; total wages, $1,612,192; total retirement and health contributions, $626,572.

Local districts and schools not reporting were:

– California Connections Academy @ North Bay;
– Kelseyville Unified;
– Lake County International Charter School;
– Lakeport Unified;
– Middletown Unified.

More than three-quarters of K-12 education employers did not file the requested reports or they provided incomplete information.

As the chief fiscal officer of California, Controller Yee is responsible for accountability and disbursement of the state’s financial resources. The Controller also safeguards many types of property until claimed by the rightful owners, and has independent auditing authority over government agencies that spend state funds.

Follow the Controller on Twitter at @CAController and on Facebook at California State Controller’s Office.