This 3-year-old female domestic medium hair cat is in cat room kennel No. 58, ID No. LCAC-A-1029. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Domestic medium hair cat
This 3-year-old female domestic medium hair cat has a brown tabby coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 58, ID No. LCAC-A-1029.
“Marmalade” is a 5-year-old female domestic short hair cat in cat room kennel No. 68, ID No. LCAC-A-1444. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Marmalade’
“Marmalade” is a 5-year-old female domestic short hair cat with a calico and white coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 68, ID No. LCAC-A-1444.
This female domestic short hair kitten is in cat room kennel No. 101, ID No. LCAC-A-1504. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female domestic short hair kitten
This female domestic short hair kitten has a black coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 101, ID No. LCAC-A-1504.
This male domestic short hair kitten is in cat room kennel No. 101, ID No. LCAC-A-1502. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Domestic short hair kitten
This male domestic short hair kitten has all-black coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 101, ID No. LCAC-A-1502.
This male domestic short hair kitten is in cat room kennel No. 125B, ID No. LCAC-A-1139. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Domestic short hair kitten
A male kitten from this litter remains available for adoption.
He is in cat room kennel No. 125B, ID No. LCAC-A-1139.
This 1-year-old female domestic short hair cat is in cat room kennel No. 135, ID No. LCAC-A-1133. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female domestic short hair
This 1-year-old female domestic short hair cat has a black coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 135, ID No. LCAC-A-1133.
“Goldie” is a male domestic short hair kitten in cat room kennel No. 142, ID No. LCAC-A-1442. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Goldie’
“Goldie” is a male domestic short hair kitten with a yellow tabby and white coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 142, ID No. LCAC-A-1442.
“Ophir” is a male domestic short hair kitten in cat room kennel No. 142, ID No. LCAC-A-1443. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Ophir’
“Ophir” is a male domestic short hair kitten with a red and white coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 142, ID No. LCAC-A-1443.
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.
Antoine Lentacker, University of California, Riverside
This litigation can serve several important goals. It can identify wrongdoers and hold them accountable. It can repair damage by compensating the victims. And it can protect the public by producing evidence regarding dangerous products and practices.
When cases are settled, however, the litigation rarely accomplishes all three goals together. Settlements deny plaintiffs their day in court and can bypass admissions of guilt or allow companies to evade public scrutiny. They frustrate and disappoint almost by design.
Frustration and disappointment have been evident in the settlement reached on Sept. 1, 2021, that ended thousands of the lawsuits filed by states, cities, counties and native tribes against Purdue Pharma. Even as Robert Drain, a federal bankruptcy judge in White Plains, New York, approved the deal he observed that it would fail to fully hold Purdue’s owners, the Sackler family, accountable for their role in the opioid crisis.
If the deal holds up, it will cap 20 years of litigation against Purdue Pharma, a privately held drugmaker. The company pleaded guilty twice to federal criminal charges in connection with its marketing of OxyContin. No lawsuit against Purdue ever advanced to trial. Cases were settled out of court and records were sealed. The company continued to promote OxyContin to doctors through 2018.
Under the terms of the settlement, the Sacklers will hand over a total of $4.5 billion over nine years provided they can be released of any liability for their role in the opioid crisis. This immunity would extend to members of the family as well as to hundreds of foundations, trusts, business associates, attorneys, lobbyists, Purdue subsidiaries and other entities.
Barring a successful appeal, however, the Sacklers will still retain most of the fortune they amassed from the sales of OxyContin fully insulated against future lawsuits brought in connection with Purdue’s opioids.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Sackler wing is named for the three brothers who built Purdue Pharma into a massive privately held drugmaker.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Compensating the plaintiffs
The abuse of prescription opioids costs the U.S. economy $78.5 billion every year, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate. The funds pledged by the Sacklers fall far short of paying this tab. However, the deal offers a creative way to help resolve the crisis.
The centerpiece of the deal is a plan to dissolve Purdue and reestablish it as a public benefit corporation. The new entity will continue to sell some of Purdue’s signature products – including opioid painkillers, opioid substitution therapies like buprenorphine and anti-overdose medications like naloxone – and use the profits of these sales to fund addiction treatment and prevention programs.
Members of the Sackler family will have no stake in the new entity. Resuscitated as a public trust, the new Purdue will be bound to refrain from the kind of pill-pushing methods that made its fortune.
If successful, this new arrangement would show that a different way of producing and distributing drugs is possible.
John Oliver has repeatedly skewered the Sacklers in his “Last Week Tonight” show.
Informing the public
Lawsuits against the industry have produced millions of internal company documents that shed light on the origins of the opioid catastrophe. Together with other historians, I drafted an amicus brief in 2019 that made the case for the full disclosure of all the evidence unearthed in the course of the litigation.
When 46 U.S. states reached another sweeping settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998, we explained, the companies were asked to turn over their internal documents and pay for their collection and preservation.
Posted to the internet, these documents exposed how the tobacco industry misled the public about the consequences of smoking and the nature of nicotine addiction for decades after these risks were discovered.
Overall, more than 1,000 books, research papers and articles about the impact of corporate behavior on public health were written based on this trove of evidence. The same approach, we argued, needs to be taken with the opioid industry documents.
We filed our brief just as Purdue made its opening settlement bid. The Sacklers fought long and hard to guard their secrets, concealing some of the most incriminating evidence behind claims of attorney-client privilege. They were forced to relent to get more states on board.
As a result, 30 million documents – business plans, memos, emails, meeting minutes, legal records and even deposition videos – will be turned over to archivists and made available in text-searchable form through a user-friendly portal. Purdue’s inner workings will be exposed like those of few U.S. corporations before. This will help researchers, journalists and the public better understand the causes of the opioid epidemic.
Boxes of opioid-related evidence are transported in Central Islip, N.Y., in 2021 amid litigation against opioid manufacturers, distributors and drugstore chains.Raychel Brightman/Newsday RM via Getty Images
Looking ahead
By a striking quirk of timing, the court order compelling the release of the tobacco industry documents expired on Sept. 1, 2021. The yearslong effort to collect the documents obtained from the tobacco industry will wind down just as the work to bring Purdue’s documents to the public begins.
Public access to industry documents altered the course of the litigation against Big Tobacco. For decades, cigarette makers beat back lawsuits with claims that the science about the risks of smoking remained unsettled and that the companies were sincerely trying to mitigate known harms. They also held that smokers were making a choice and denied knowing anything about nicotine’s addictive potential. These defenses crumbled when the documents came to light and more plaintiffs prevailed in court.
Given the broad immunity granted to the Sacklers, the disclosure of Purdue’s opioid litigation documents may not lead to new lawsuits against them. But it might strengthen future litigation against other defendants in opioid cases.
Historians like me, public health experts, journalists, lawyers, survivors and the public need access to the evidence underpinning all of that litigation too. If only Purdue’s opioid-related documents are made public, the world would be left with a distorted picture of what caused this catastrophe.
The Sacklers, I fear, would continue to play their role as useful villains, diverting attention from the broadersystemicfailures that allowed one company to cause so much damage.
Editor’s note: The descendants of Arthur Sackler, the brother of Mortimer and Raymond Sackler, sold their stake in Purdue before the launch of OxyContin. They aren’t involved in opioid-related litigation against the company or Purdue’s related settlements.
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Tomatillos are known for the bright acidity they bring to a variety of dishes. Photo by Esther Oertel.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — Thanks to a generous literacy student, I found myself with a big bag of fresh tomatillos the other day.
They were just perfect — small, bright spheres of green covered with brownish papery husks. As a fan of salsa verde, this was pretty exciting for me.
The happy little fruits stared at me from the bag and my mind raced with ideas for their use. I’d turn some of them into salsa verde, of course, but other ideas popped up, too, like cooking them with a big batch of pinto beans for a vegetarian version of chili verde.
As it happened, I had limited time to put these plans into action, so I offered them to my son. This ended up being a great decision because he worked his magic to turn them into the best salsa verde I’ve ever tasted! It had a rich, smoky flavor, yet maintained the signature tartness expected from tomatillos.
I can let you in on the secret to his success in the recipe below. But first, a bit about this sassy little fruit.
Despite its name, which means “little tomato” in Spanish, tomatillos are not, in fact, little tomatoes. They’re members of the nightshade family like the tomato, so you might call them cousins, but they’re a species distinct from them.
The Cape gooseberry, which also grows encased in a thin husk, is another nightshade relative of the tomatillo.
Like many members of this family, parts of the plant are toxic. In the case of the tomatillo, the stems, leaves and husk are poisonous and should be avoided.
Other names for the tomatillo include husk tomato, Mexican husk tomato or, in Mexico, tomato verde. In Spain they’re known by a variety of names, my favorite being farolito, which translates to little lantern. Because of their papery husks, they do remind me of the paper lanterns strung everywhere during Chinese New Year celebrations.
Tomatillos are native to Mexico and parts of Central America. There’s evidence that they were cultivated in Mexico in pre-Columbian times, since at least 800 B.C., where they were eaten by the Aztecs and Mayans.
They’re still mostly associated with Mexican and Central American cuisine. (Think of delicious, tangy green salsa or the brightly flavored sauce served over pork or chicken enchiladas.)
Like tomatoes or cucumbers with internal seeds, they’re botanically considered a fruit, though in practice they’re used in savory cuisine like a vegetable.
Typically golf ball sized (though this can vary), each fruit has a thin husk that dries and recedes when they’re ripe. Depending on the variety, they can ripen to varying shades of yellow, red, or purple, just like their tomato cousins.
Tomatillos are most often harvested prior to maturity when bright apple green with a just-burst husk. This is when their tangy flavor is in full force and they still have their signature acidic edge. The flavor mellows as the fruit matures.
Heat-loving tomatillos have been cultivated in the U. S. since 1863. In California, they’re grown commercially on the central coast as well as in the Central Valley. Depending on the warmth of their location, harvesting can begin as early as late May and last through November.
If you’re in the market for tomatillos, look for those that have a husk that’s dry and not shriveled or damp. The husk should cover the fruit and be somewhat tight, though open at the end. This indicates that the tomatillos were picked just before ripening.
In addition, the fruit should be firm without much give, with no brown or soft spots, and be a vivid shade of green like a Granny Smith apple.
When you get them home, decide how long it will take you to use them. If right away, there’s no need to refrigerate, as they’ll store well on the counter for two to three days.
If you’d like to keep them around longer, place them in a partially open paper bag and store them in the refrigerator, where they’ll keep for two to three weeks.
Once the husks are removed, the sticky, protective residue on their skin will be revealed, and you’ll need to wash that off before working with them.
They’re really quite versatile and can be used in a variety of ways. Like tomatoes, the skin and seeds are edible and there’s no need to peel or seed them.
Despite the way they look and their relationship with tomatoes, tomatillos are too acidic to be subbed in recipes that feature green tomatoes.
Use them raw if you want to keep their flavor bright and to play up their bracing acidity. Raw tomatillos can be a component of ceviche, for example, or used in a salad with tomatoes, corn and avocado.
Raw tomatillos can also be used in vinaigrette dressings to provide additional brightness and acidity.
When tomatillos are cooked, their acidity is mellowed a bit (though they’ll still have that tang) and a subtle sweetness is brought out. This is particularly true when they’re roasted. Cooking of course softens them, and it mutes the color, as well.
There are a variety of ways to cook them.
Blanching tomatillos in boiling water for five minutes or so mellows the flavor and softens them for crushing or pureeing.
They can be fire roasted under the broiler, on the grill, or even with a propane torch. If using this method, be sure the heat is high to avoid mushyness before they’ve had a chance to char. The blackened skins will add smoky flavor to your dish.
They can be dry roasted with low heat for 20 to 30 minutes in the oven or in a cast iron pan on the stove. Turn them occasionally while they’re cooking.
They can be added directly to the pot to simmer with soups like pozole verde or braised with chicken or pork for stews like chili verde. They can be cooked with beans to add flavor and tang, or grilled with onions to make an accompaniment for steak or other hearty foods.
Or they can be smoked, which is what my son did to make his epic salsa verde. His recipe is below.
But before we go, here’s an interesting fact. A fossilized tomatillo was found in the Patagonia region of South America that dated to 52 million years ago. I wonder what that would taste like in a salsa?
Shown here is salsa verde made from tomatillos that have been wood smoked. Photo by Esther Oertel. Bob’s Salsa Verde
6 or more cups tomatillos 3 jalapeno peppers 3 serrano peppers 2 pasilla peppers 2 bulbs (not cloves) of garlic Olive oil Red onion, roughly chopped Cilantro, one bunch, leaves only Juice of one lime About ¼ cup red wine vinegar Salt to taste
Smoke the peppers, tomatillos and garlic in an electric or wood smoker on low heat — about 250 to 275 degrees Fahrenheit — for 1 to 1 ¼ hours, until soft and smoky. Notes: Bob used a wood smoker fueled by oak and cherry logs. The tomatillos should be placed in a pan for smoking so the juices can be retained for the salsa. Garlic bulb tops should be cut off, then rubbed with oil and wrapped in aluminum foil for roasting.
Place the smoked peppers, tomatillos and garlic (without skins) in a blender or food processor and puree on the pulse setting with the red onion, cilantro, lime juice and vinegar. Notes: Garlic bulbs can be squeezed to release the smoked garlic cloves inside. Be sure to add the tomatillo juice in the pan to the puree, as well.
Add salt to taste, a pinch or so. Bob thinks the pinch he added is about half a teaspoon. Start with a quarter teaspoon, taste, and add more if needed.
Store in glass jars with lids in the refrigerator, where it should stay fresh for about two weeks.
Note that salsa verde can become a little gelatinous when cold. This can be remedied by bringing to room temperature or heating for a few seconds in the microwave.
Use as you would any salsa verde - over enchiladas, to flavor soups or stews, atop meats and vegetables, with chips. For a treat, mix it with guacamole for a flavorful dip!
Recipe by Bob Oertel.
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, California.
Three earthquakes over the past week have occurred near Talmage in Mendocino County, California. The quake shown in orange occurred on Saturday, September 4, 2021; the quake shown in yellow occurred on Tuesday, August 31, 2021; and the quake shown in blue occurred Thursday, September 2, 2021. Image courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.
NORTH COAST, Calif. — A moderately sized earthquake that occurred on Saturday night in Mendocino County was the latest in a series of quakes near Talmage that Lake County residents have reported feeling over the past week.
The latest quake, measuring 3.7 in magnitude, occurred at 10:27 p.m. Saturday 2.7 miles east of Talmage and about two miles west of the Lake County line, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
It was reported at a depth of 4.3 miles, the survey said.
As of 3 a.m. Sunday, there were 165 shake reports submitted from around Lake and Mendocino counties.
That quake was located a short distance away from two others earlier in the week.
A 3.8-magnitude quake occurred near Talmage at 10:44 p.m. Thursday, also at a depth of 4.3 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The survey said 314 shake reports were submitted for that quake.
The first, and smallest, of the quakes occurred on Tuesday at 1:20 p.m. at a depth of 1.2 miles.
There were 122 shake reports submitted for that quake, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
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. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has several dogs of mixed breeds waiting for their new families.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Australian kelpie, husky, Labrador retriever, mastiff, pit bull, rat terrier, Rhodesian Ridgeback, shepherd and 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 website not listed are still “on hold”).
This 5-year-old American pit bull terrier mix is in kennel No. 12, ID No. LCAC-A-1483. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. American pit bull terrier mix
This 5-year-old American pit bull terrier mix has a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 12, ID No. LCAC-A-1483.
This 2-year-old male Labrador retriever is in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-1349. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male Labrador retriever
This 2-year-old male Labrador retriever has a short black coat with white markings.
He is in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-1349.
“Oliver” is a 1-year-old Australian kelpie-rat terrier mix in kennel No. 20, ID No. LCAC-A-1551. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Oliver’
“Oliver” is a 1-year-old Australian kelpie-rat terrier mix with a short tricolor coat.
He is in kennel No. 20, ID No. LCAC-A-1551.
“Jim” is a 2-year-old pit bull terrier mix in kennel No. 23, ID No. LCAC-A-810. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Jim’
“Jim” is a 2-year-old pit bull terrier mix with a short black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 23, ID No. LCAC-A-810.
This 2-year-old female mastiff is in kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-1395.Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female mastiff
This 2-year-old female mastiff has a short brindle and white coat.
She weighs 102 pounds.
She is in kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-1395.
“Rosco” is 3-year-old a male Rhodesian Ridgeback-Shepherd mix in kennel No. 25, ID No. LCAC-A-1205. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Rosco’
“Rosco” is 3-year-old a male Rhodesian Ridgeback-Shepherd mix with a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 25, ID No. LCAC-A-1205.
This 4-year-old female pit bull terrier mix is in kennel No. 29, ID No. LCAC-A-812. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female pit bull terrier
This 4-year-old female pit bull terrier mix has a short white coat.
She is in kennel No. 29, ID No. LCAC-A-812.
This 2-year-old male husky is in kennel No. 32, ID No. LCAC-A-1024. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male husky
This 2-year-old male husky has a red and cream coat.
He is in kennel No. 32, ID No. LCAC-A-1024.
This 2-year-old male pit bull terrier mix is in kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-1528. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male pit bull mix
This 2-year-old male pit bull terrier mix has a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-1528.
“Ghost” is a 2-year-old female husky in kennel No. 34, ID No. LCAC-A-1167. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Ghost’
“Ghost” is a 2-year-old female husky with an all-white coat and blue eyes.
She is in kennel No. 34, ID No. LCAC-A-1167.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
It’s reasonable that people who would normally chip in to alleviate suffering in any of these situations might not know how to help. The Conversation U.S. asked Patrick Rooney, an economist at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy who has studied disaster giving for decades, three questions to clear up some of the concerns that many donors might have.
1. How long will donors give after disasters?
Generally, not long enough.
Given all of the disasters affecting the United States and the entire world at the same time, it’s reasonable for many people who want to donate to be unsure about what they should do. Whether you prefer to focus on the short run or the long run, I think it makes sense to donate now, but not necessarily to the most recent need that has come to your attention.
In the short run, refugees from Afghanistan and displaced people from Haiti, Louisiana and elsewhere all need “hots and cots” – disaster-speak for hot meals and somewhere to sleep.
In the long run, their needs will differ, but grow in terms of their significance and costs. Wherever refugees settle down, most families will need housing and their breadwinners will need jobs. Before becoming gainfully employed, many of those workers will require training and education.
Following these disasters, roads, bridges, utilities, schools and other infrastructure will need to be rebuilt, and people could take a long time to rebuild their lives. That’s why efforts to help with recovery need your help now and will need more help later this year, next year and possibly for a much longer period of time.
In studying disaster giving, my colleagues and I have generally found, with few exceptions, that roughly half of all the money raised through donations tends to be donated within the first four to six weeks after disasters. By the fifth or sixth month, donations usually slow to a trickle even as needs continue.
2. Do people who donate after disasters give less to their favorite causes?
Ample evidence indicates that this doesn’t usually happen.
My colleagues and I researched U.S. donations to causes tied to 9/11 disaster relief, as well as giving to other charities before and after the 2001 terrorist attacks. We found no evidence that giving related to 9/11 diminished support for other charities.
A team of philanthropy researchers has studied disaster relief giving in the United Kingdom using data garnered from more than 100,000 donors over a five-year period. They also found that disaster relief giving does not displace giving to other charities.
My IUPUI colleagues, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and the philanthropy research group Candid collaborated on a survey of 1,243 households about their giving in 2017 and 2018. About 30% made donations annually that were tied to at least one disaster. Only 8% of these donors said that disaster giving led them to cut back on what they gave to other charities.
In other words, donors who support causes linked to disasters keep on supporting their local food pantry, favorite animal shelter, alma mater, congregation and other usual causes. And they generally do this in the same amounts as in other years.
However, things could be different this time around. There’s no precedent for so many disasters occurring simultaneously during a pandemic.
3. Did 9/11 change how people give?
Yes.
The estimated US$2.8 billion that Americans gave to causes related to the harm caused by the terrorists attacks marked the beginning of new patterns in disaster philanthropy that persist today.
Unfortunately, this trend has created the temptation for abuse and fraud: Misleading websites can amass donations intended for urgent needs that instead line the pockets of people who don’t need the money. While the actual dollar amounts lost to fraud is unknowable, philanthropy scholars do not believe they represent a large share of the billions of dollars raised annually for disaster relief.
To avoid scammers, I recommend giving directly to reputable, well-established charities with experience in disaster relief and recovery. Also watch out for sound-alike and look-alike fraudulent names – such as branding that resembles a familiar charity but isn’t connected to that trusted organization.
What has not changed is the need for giving that lasts years rather than months following a major disaster. For example, I see the devastation in the wake of Haiti’s 2021 earthquake as a graphic reminder that many of the infrastructure needs from the 2010 earthquake remain unmet despite the $13.5 billion in government and private aid spent in its aftermath – amid chronic mismanagement and even abuse.
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The study of active asteroids is a relatively new field of solar system science, focusing on objects that have asteroid-like orbits but look more like comets, with visual characteristics such as tails.
Because finding an active asteroid is such a rare event, fewer than 30 of these solar system bodies have been found since 1949, so there is still much for scientists to learn about them.
Roughly only one out of 10,000 asteroids are classified as active asteroids, so an enormous number of observations will be needed over the span of many years to yield a larger sample for study.
Through funding from a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program award in 2018, doctoral student Colin Orion Chandler in Northern Arizona University’s Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science just launched an ambitious new project, Active Asteroids, which is designed to engage volunteers in the search for more of these enigmatic objects.
The highly competitive and prestigious program, awarded to only 15 percent of the more than 2,000 yearly applicants, provides three years of funding for Chandler’s research.
“With the generous help of Citizen Scientists,” said Chandler, project founder and principal investigator, “we hope to quadruple the number of known active asteroids and encourage study of an ambiguous population of solar system objects, knowledge of which is currently hampered due to a very small sample size.”
The implications of finding more active asteroids for science and engineering are far-reaching, including:
— Helping to answer key unsolved questions about how much water was delivered to Earth after it formed, and where that water originated.
— Advising searches for life about where water—a prerequisite for life as we understand it—is found, both in our own solar system and other star systems, too.
— Informing spaceflight engineers seeking more practical, inexpensive and environmentally responsible sources of fuel, air and water.
— Appraising volatile availability for prospective asteroid mining efforts and sample-return missions.
In preparation for the launch, Chandler, an NAU Presidential Fellow, conducted the beta review phase of the project, enlisting the help of more than 200 volunteers, who completed 4,798 classifications of 295 objects.
“I am very, very excited the project is finally launching,” he said. “The project has been years in the making, from selection by the NSF until this launch. Even during the preparations for the project launch, we have made several important discoveries, including discovering a new active object and uncovering information about several previously known objects. These discoveries have led to three publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, with another one in the works right now.”
As part of the testing phase, the team noticed an unusual "smudge" kept showing up around one particular object.
The object was a Centaur, an icy body with an orbit between Jupiter and Neptune. The team carried out follow-up observations with other telescopes and discovered the object was active, one of only about 20 active Centaurs discovered since 1929, and published their findings in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (see related article).
Although it will depend on the number of volunteers participating and how quickly they complete classifications, the duration of the project could be up to one year.
Chandler hopes to recruit thousands of volunteers to participate. No previous astronomy experience is needed; training is provided online through the Zooniverse platform where the project is housed.
“We need to examine 5,000 square degrees of the sky in the Southern Hemisphere, which means there are many — more than 10 million — asteroid images to classify!” he said.
Co-founders of the project are Jay Kueny of Lowell Observatory and the University of Arizona, who began collaborating with Colin in creating the project when he was a senior at NAU — and who has since then also received a GRFP award from the NSF — and NAU associate professor Chad Trujillo, who serves as the project's Chief Science Advisor. Other contributors are graduate students Annika Gustaffson and William Oldroyd.
The project’s Science Advisory Board consists of several eminent scientists, including Henry Hsieh of the Planetary Science Institute, NAU professor David Trilling, NAU assistant professor Tyler Robinson and NAU assistant professor Michael Gowanlock.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Weather forecasters and air quality officials are predicting a Labor Day weekend with smoky skies and warmer temperatures.
The National Weather Service said temperatures are expected to rise into the 90s over the weekend across much of the county, with the hottest temperatures — near the century mark — in south Lake County.
The forecast also includes a prediction of widespread haze on Saturday and Sunday, with conditions starting to clear on Monday.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District said that stable atmospheric conditions together with light winds are expected to result in smoke levels increasing throughout the county this weekend.
Fires including the Monument, McCash, Dixie and Caldor continue to create regional smoke impacts throughout Lake County and the Western States, the Air Quality Management District reported.
The district said Lake County experienced good to moderate air quality on Friday.
However, the air quality forecast through Sunday will range from “moderate” (Air Quality Index of 51 to 100) to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” (AQI of 101 to 151) with areas at lower elevations expected to experience the most smoke impacts.
Current weather models indicate smoke building during the early morning hours with gradual clearing during the daytime.
Much of the smoke is expected to stay in the Highway 101 corridor on Saturday, while Lake County should experience mostly good to moderate air quality.
The district said to expect fluctuating periods of poorer air quality as the occasional wind gusts push that smoke into our area.
On Sunday, the district said Lake County will see a change with most areas of the county forecast to reach “unhealthy for sensitive groups” throughout the day.
On Monday the district anticipates some clearing of the smoke with air quality expected to reach moderate levels based on the current weather forecast.
For more information visit the district’s website and follow the quick links for air monitoring for current smoke and air quality conditions.
A Lake County Sheriff’s deputy and a Lakeport Fire Protection District firefighter at the scene of an arson fire set at the old Natural High School on North Main Street in Lakeport, California, on Saturday, August 28, 2021. Photo courtesy of the Lakeport Police Department. LAKEPORT, Calif. — Authorities said they took a woman into custody last weekend for arson after she set a fire on a city-owned property.
Janis Lynn Martinez, 38, a transient from the Lakeport area, was taken into custody on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 28, the Lakeport Police Department reported.
At 9:15 a.m. that day, Lakeport Police, with the assistance of the Lake County Sheriff's Office and Lakeport Fire Protection District, arrested Martinez for arson after witnesses identified her as having started a fire against the structure known as the old Natural High School.
The building is in the city’s parklands on North Main Street, and next to the new Lakefront Park development.
Authorities said Martinez is believed to have also started a nearby fire just minutes beforehand.
Both fires were extinguished before any significant damage resulted, officials said.
Martinez was booked into the Lake County Jail on a felony charge of arson of a structure, with bail set at $50,000. Jail records show that she also is being held on a misdemeanor charge of trespassing.
She remained in custody on Saturday, according to booking records.
Martinez is scheduled to appear in Lake County Superior Court on Sept. 27.
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.
The Employment Development Department today published its annual Labor Day Briefing, which examines state and regional labor market trends and details California’s in-demand occupations.
California gained an average of 105,500 nonfarm jobs per month during the 15-month recovery from April 2020 to July 2021 — a level of job growth not seen since the current tracking method was introduced in 1990.
Before the pandemic, the largest monthly job gain on record was 98,500 in April 2016.
Growth has averaged over 111,000 jobs gained per month this year.
The department also analyzed thousands of job postings across California to identify the most in-demand occupations.
Registered nurses and general and operations managers top the list of high-skill occupations that are in demand — with just over 20,000 recent job postings for nurses and over 8,000 job postings for managers.
Truck driving has also seen steady growth with 8,400 job postings statewide. Demand for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks also remains strong with 4,400 job ads posted.
Retail salespersons, laborers, and freight and stock workers are among the entry-level jobs requiring a high school diploma or less that are in high demand.
California hit a peak unemployment rate of 16% (April 2020) during the pandemic, which was quickly followed by unemployment falling in every region of the state.
California’s recovery, which turned 15 months old in July 2021, has featured rapidly falling unemployment and robust job growth.
Leisure and hospitality posted the largest industry sector job gain from April 2020 to July 2021, adding 558,500 jobs.
Statewide, regional employment also strengthened, with every region showing year-over job gains as of July 2021.
Los Angeles had the largest year-over gain (242,800 jobs), followed by Orange (116,400) and Bay-Peninsula (98,600).
Jeffrey Kucik, University of Arizona and Don Leonard, The Ohio State University
The door to unemployment benefits is closing for millions of Americans. AP Photo/John Minchillo
Millions of unemployed Americans are set to lose pandemic-related jobless benefits after Labor Day – just as surging cases of coronavirus slow the pace of hiring.
In all, an estimated 8.8 million people will stop receiving unemployment insurance beginning on Sept. 6, 2021. An additional 4.5 million will no longer get the extra US$300 a week the federal government has been providing to supplement state benefits.
But with the pandemic still raging thanks to the rise of the delta variant, particularly in Southern states, the expiration of these benefits seems ill-timed. While some claim that the aid is no longer needed and doing more harm than good, webelieve that the data tell another story.
Benefits lost
Three federal programs created to support workers hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns expire on Sept. 6:
The Pandemic Extended Unemployment Compensation program offers 13 additional weeks in state unemployment benefits. An estimated 3.3 million people who were getting benefits through this program are set to lose them.
“We see ‘Help Wanted’ signs everywhere,” Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little said on May 11, 2021. “We do not want people on unemployment. We want people working.”
But the data we have so far simply doesn’t back up these claims.
We compared employment growth in the 25 states that decided to drop the federal $300 supplement with those that kept it.
Total job creation in states that kept offering the federal supplement was 35% higher than in the ones that ended the program, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, suggesting the benefits aren’t keeping workers on the sidelines.
The same pattern holds for sectors of the economy hit hardest by COVID-19. Leisure and hospitality jobs, such as waitstaff and cooks, accounted for roughly 1 in 4 of all jobs lost in 2020. Hiring in those areas was 39% higher in July 2021 in states that kept the federal benefit.
This is consistent with a growingnumber of studies that show no correlation between the higher unemployment payments during the pandemic and lagging job growth.
We won’t know whether the trend continued until the state-by-state employment breakdown is released in mid-September. But for now, the evidence doesn’t support the claim that benefits keep folks at home.
Jobless Americans still need support
But we do know that people who want to work are still being prevented from doing so because of COVID-19.
The latest jobs report, released on Sept. 3, 2021, showed that 5.6 million people were unable to work in August because their employer closed or lost business because of the pandemic, up from 5.2 million in July.
As recently as late May, before the delta variant began causing caseloads to climb, pandemic-related unemployment claims were falling across all 50 states. Then, over June and July, claims spiked again as COVID-19 cases rippled across the country.
All this shows why all three programs are still so important.
The extended benefits give unemployed people more time to find a job while helping them cover basic expenses. Gig workers, like Uber drivers and other independent contractors, need unemployment benefits too, especially as 60% of them lost income during the pandemic and many continue to struggle as business activity remains subdued. These workers are also less likely to receive employer-sponsored benefits like health care.
And the $300 federal supplement is important because pre-pandemic state benefits – which are typically about $340 a week – replaced only 30% to 50% of lost earnings. Even with the supplement, for most people, it’s still less than what they were earning from their job.
Tough choices ahead
That’s why the expiring benefits mean so much to lower-income families, especially now that the Supreme Court has struck down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ban on evictions.
But after the benefits expire on Labor Day, making ends meet and staying in their homes will be significantly harder for millions of American families.
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What's up for September? Moving fast in the cosmos with planet Mercury, and stars Arcturus and Altair.
You'll have to be quick to catch a glimpse of Mercury this month, as the innermost and fastest-moving planet — namesake of the fleet-footed, mythological messenger — appears low in the west for a short time following sunset.
But those with a clear view toward the horizon will be rewarded with some nice planetary groupings in the first week and a half of September.
You'll find Mercury just a few degrees above the western horizon about half an hour after the Sun sets, with much brighter Venus higher and slightly farther to the south. On the 9th and 10th look for the pair to be joined by the crescent Moon.
In between the two planets is the bright star Spica, which is actually two stars orbiting each other at a distance 3 times closer than Mercury orbits our Sun!
Mercury should be visible for you from mid-northern latitudes on south. The farther south you are, the longer Mercury will be above the horizon for you before it sets.
In addition to Spica, two other bright stars you can easily spot early in the evening in September are Arcturus and Altair.
Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern sky. It owes this status largely to the fact that it's relatively closeby, at about 37 light years from our solar system.
You can find Arcturus in the west in the first couple of hours after it gets dark.
Look for the Big Dipper and follow its handle over toward the south about the width of an outstretched hand. It's easy to remember with the phrase "arc to Arcturus."
One interesting thing about Arcturus is that, compared to other stars, it's moving extremely fast with respect to our solar system. In fact, the discovery of the star's motion was a huge moment in astronomy. Before that, the positions of stars were thought to be fixed and unchanging. After Edmund Halley's discovery, the understanding that the stars move around as independent objects began to take hold.
After you've found orange-colored Arcturus, spin yourself toward the south-southeast to find Altair. You'll spy it hanging right above Saturn all month – in fact it's about as high above Saturn as Saturn is from the horizon.
Altair is a bright white-colored star, which makes for a nice color comparison with Arcturus and nearby Antares. At just 17 light years away, it's definitely one of the closest bright stars to our solar system.
One of the coolest things about Altair is that it rotates so fast that it's flattened into an oval shape. Since it's so closeby, astronomers have actually been able to image this fast-spinner's flattened shape directly.
So look for Altair and Arcturus in the September sky – two bright, nearby stars that, along with Mercury, each have their own spin on what it means to be fast.
You can catch up on all of NASA's missions to explore the solar system and beyond at www.nasa.gov.
Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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