Madeline Young, an Upper Lake High School sophomore, speaks to a crowd at the “Let Them Play” rally on Friday, January 15, 2021, in downtown Lakeport, California. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News. LAKEPORT, Calif. – A large group of parents, students, coaches and other community members gathered in Lakeport Friday afternoon to rally for reopening school sports.
The “Let Them Play” rally, held at Courthouse Museum Park in downtown Lakeport, was one of dozens coordinated to take place across the state on Friday.
For nine months, school sports have been shut down due to COVID-19, and the rallies were meant to bring attention to what supporters say is the need for young people to be able to have sports available to them once again.
Most of Lake County’s schools remain closed to in-person learning due to being in the highest tier, purple, on the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
Under guidelines issued by the state and the California Interscholastic Federation, the only sport offered at local schools at this time of year that would be allowed is cross country.
A big crowd was on hand Friday afternoon, lining Main Street between Second and Third Streets.
Lake County News counted close to 120 people in the rally area, and Gerard Fowler, one of the event organizers, estimated there were more than 150 participants at the event’s peak.
“For such a short planning time frame I was pleasantly pleased with the turnout,” Fowler said.
Students and their supporters carried signs with messages including “Let us play,” “I love wrestling,” “Put me in, Coach,” “I love volleyball,” “I love softball” and “Science supports sports.”
A flatbed trailer was parked on the street as a stage, and passing motorists honked in support.
Madeline Young, a sophomore and honor roll student at Upper Lake High School, thanked people for coming.
Young said not having school sports is hurting students.
“Let us play,” she said.
Fowler said those participating came from areas including Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake, Middletown, Ukiah, Upper Lake and Willits, with all local school districts represented.
It was a peaceful rally with no political agendas, he said.
“It was nice to stand united for our children,” Fowler 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.
Students were among those lining Main Street with signs on Friday, January 15, 2021, in downtown Lakeport, California, as part of the “Let Them Play” rally, which called for the chance to return to sporting competitions. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
These astronaut footprints on the Moon aren’t protected yet. NASA
It’s hard to care about bootprints sunk in soil 238,900 miles away as humanity suffers the combined burden of an unforgiving virus and a political unease. But how humans treat those bootprints and the historic lunar landing sites upon which they are found will speak volumes about who we humans are and who we seek to become.
On Dec. 31, the One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act became law. As far as laws go, it’s pretty benign. It requires companies that are working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on lunar missions to agree to be bound by otherwise unenforceable guidelines intended to protect American landing sites on the Moon. That’s a pretty small pool of affected entities. However, it is also the first law enacted by any nation that recognizes the existence of human heritage in outer space. That’s important because it reaffirms our human commitment to protecting our history – as we do on Earth with sites like the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, which is protected through instruments like the World Heritage Convention – while also acknowledging that the human species is expanding into space.
I am a lawyer who focuses on space issues that seek to ensure the peaceful and sustainable exploration and use of space. I believe that people can achieve world peace through space. To do so, we must recognize landing sites on the Moon and other celestial bodies as the universal human achievements they are, built on the research and dreams of scientists and engineers spanning centuries on this globe. I believe that the One Small Step Act, enacted in a divisive political environment, demonstrates that space and preservation truly are nonpartisan, even unifying principles.
It is only a matter of decades, perhaps just years, before we see a continuous human presence on the Moon.
While it would be nice to think that a human community on the Moon would be a collaborative, multinational utopia – albeit located in what Buzz Aldrin famously described as a “magnificent desolation” – the fact is people are once again racing one another to reach our lunar neighbor.
The U.S. Artemis project, which includes a goal of sending the first woman to the Moon in 2024, is the most ambitious mission. Russia has reinvigorated its Luna program, setting the stage to put cosmonauts on the Moon in the 2030s. However, in a race once reserved for superpowers, there are now multiple nations and multiple private companies with a stake.
India is planning to send a rover to the Moon this year. China, which in December implemented the first successful lunar return mission since 1976, has announced multiple lunar landings in the coming years, with Chinese media reporting plans for a crewed mission to the Moon within the decade. South Korea and Japan are also building lunar landers and probes.
Space is not lawless. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, now ratified by 110 nations, including all of the current spacefaring countries, offers guiding principles supporting the concept of space as the province of all humankind. The treaty explicitly indicates that all countries and, by implication, their nationals have the freedom to explore and free access to all areas of the Moon.
That’s right. Everyone has the freedom to roam wherever they want – over Neil Armstrong’s bootprint, close to sensitive scientific experiments or right up to a mining operation. There is no concept of property on the Moon. The only restriction on this freedom is the remonstration, found in Article IX of the treaty, that all activities on the Moon must be carried out with “due regard to the corresponding interests of” all others and the requirement that you consult with others if you might cause “harmful interference.”
What does that mean? From a legal standpoint, no one knows.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera captured images of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites. The Apollo 17 lunar rover is visible, as are the descent stages of the three spacecraft and footpaths made by the astronauts.NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University
Outstanding universal value
It can reasonably be argued that interfering with an experiment or a lunar mining operation would be harmful, cause quantifiable damage and thus violate the treaty.
But what about a derelict spacecraft, like the Eagle, the Apollo 11 lunar lander? Do we really want to rely on “due regard” to prevent the intentional or inadvertent destruction of this inspiring piece of history? This object memorializes the work of the hundreds of thousands of individuals who worked to put a human on the Moon, the astronauts and cosmonauts who gave their lives in this quest to reach the stars, and the quiet heroes, like Katherine Johnson, who fueled the math that made it so.
The lunar landing sites – from Luna 2, the first human made object to impact the Moon, to each of the crewed Apollo missions, to Chang-e 4, which deployed the first rover on the far side of the Moon – in particular bear witness to humanity’s greatest technological achievement thus far. They symbolize all we have accomplished as a species, and hold such promise for the future.
The One Small Step Act is true to its name. It’s a small step. It applies only to companies that are working with NASA; it pertains only to U.S. lunar landing sites; it implements outdated and untested recommendations to protect historic lunar sites implemented by NASA in 2011. However, it offers significant breakthroughs. It is the first legislation from any nation to recognize an off-Earth site as having “outstanding universal value” to humanity, language taken from the unanimously ratified World Heritage Convention.
The act also encourages the development of best practices to protect human heritage in space by evolving the concepts of due regard and harmful interference – an evolution that will also guide how nations and companies work around one another. As small a step as it may be, recognizing and protecting historic sites is the first step to developing a peaceful, sustainable and successful lunar governance model.
The bootprints are not protected – yet. There is a long way to go toward an enforceable multilateral/universal agreement to manage the protection, preservation or memorialization of all human heritage in space, but the One Small Step law should give us all hope for the future in space and here on Earth.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has eight dogs that are ready and waiting to be adopted by new families.
The following dogs are ready for adoption or foster.
“Ben.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Ben’
“Ben” is a male American Pit Bull terrier mix.
He has a short brindle coat.
He is dog No. 4454.
“Breeze.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Breeze’
“Breeze” is a female American Pit Bull Terrier mix.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 4445.
“Bumble.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Bumble’
“Bumble” is a male Siberian Husky with a gray and black coat.
He is dog No. 4452.
“Jerry.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Jerry’
“Jerry” is a male American Pit Bull terrier with a short brindle coat.
He is dog No. 4455.
“Rudolph.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Rudolph’
“Rudolph” is a male shepherd mix.
He has a short tan and black coat.
He is dog No. 4436.
“Tinsle.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Tinsle’
“Tinsle” is a female American Pit Bull Terrier mix puppy.
She has a short brindle and brown coat.
She is dog No. 4433.
“Toby.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Toby’
“Toby” is a male boxer mix.
He has a short tan and white coat.
He is dog No. 4389.
“Yule.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Yule’
“Yule” is a husky of undetermined gender with a black and white coat.
Yule is dog No. 4432.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
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.
Ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden, state leaders said this week they are taking measures to protect California’s critical infrastructure.
In Washington, DC, heightened security already is in place following last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.
In an interview with Lake County News on Thursday, Congressman Mike Thompson described how the U.S. Capitol Building is now surrounded by an 8-foot-tall fence topped with razor wire, with the National Mall closed.
“It’s a pretty heartbreaking situation,” Thompson said.
Earlier this week, the California Highway Patrol, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the California National Guard said they want to assure Californians that their collective agencies are working together and remain vigilant to respond to potential threats that may occur anywhere in the state, including the State Capitol.
“Collectively, we maintain strong relationships with our security and intelligence partners at the local, state and federal levels and are continually monitoring and sharing information about possible emerging threats to the state,” the agencies reported in a joint statement.
“Together, our role is to safeguard lives and property and ensure that California remains a safe place for those who live, work, and travel within the state while ensuring the ability of individuals and groups to lawfully exercise their First Amendment rights,” the statement added.
Gov. Gavin Newsom followed up by announcing a series of actions to bolster security in advance of the presidential inauguration.
“In light of events in our nation’s capital last week, California is taking important steps to protect public safety at the State Capitol, and across the state,” said Newsom. “Our State Operations Center is actively working with federal, state and local law enforcement partners in assessing threats and sharing intelligence and information to ensure those disgraceful actions are not repeated here.”
Newsom on Thursday signed a general order authorizing the deployment of 1,000 California National Guard personnel to protect critical infrastructure, including the State Capitol.
To prepare for and respond to any credible threats, the State Operations Center will coordinate 24-hour operations and requests for mutual aid for the coming days, Newsom’s office said. The Law Enforcement Coordination Center will be activated to its highest level to orchestrate overall law enforcement and physical security needs.
Officials said the CHP and Department of General Services have installed a 6-foot chain link fence around the perimeter of the State Capitol to ensure the safety of the Capitol grounds.
Newsom’s office said the administration, through the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, California Highway Patrol and California National Guard, maintains strong relationships with security and intelligence partners around the country and is continually monitoring for possible emerging threats to the state.
“We are prepared to address any potential threats that may arise. The Administration is also preparing to provide additional law enforcement resources through the Mutual Aid System as needed,” Newsom’s office said.
The governor and his team are also coordinating closely with local, state and federal law enforcement as well as the private sector – including social media companies – to make sure that their platforms are not used by hate groups or domestic terrorists to organize or spread misinformation, disinformation or propaganda.
On Friday, the state took another step to heighten security, with CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray announcing the CHP would go on tactical alert ahead of the presidential inauguration.
Ray said the CHP is prepared to respond to any potential threats which may arise statewide. “The protection of California highways and state buildings, including the Capitol, are the primary responsibility and jurisdiction of the CHP.”
She added, “Due to the potential for civil unrest related to the 2021 Presidential Inauguration, I have placed uniformed CHP personnel on tactical alert for an indefinite period. This allows for the maximization of resources to protect public safety as well as state buildings and infrastructure. The CHP will continue to monitor the situation and plan our resources accordingly.”
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.
LUCERNE, Calif. – A man died Wednesday following a head-on crash on Highway 20.
David Leonard Surak, 61, of Williams died in the crash, according to Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
California Highway Patrol Officer Joel Skeen told Lake County News that the crash occurred at 4:36 p.m. Wednesday on Highway 20 near mile post marker 21.10, east of Lucerne.
Skeen said Surak was driving a Ford Focus sedan westbound on Highway 20.
Surak’s Ford Focus crossed over the double yellow lines and collided head-on with a Ford Escape SUV, Skeen said.
Radio reports from the scene stated that the crash happened on a blind curve and blocked both lanes of the highway. Traffic was backed up as firefighters worked to care for patients at the scene.
Skeen said Surak was transported to Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital in Clearlake where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased.
The driver and passenger of the Ford Escape SUV sustained moderate injuries and were transported to a local hospital for treatment, Skeen said.
Skeen said it’s not yet known if alcohol and/or drugs are factors that affected Surak.
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 parents and high schoolers who are hoping to soon see a return to youth sporting activities are planning a Friday event that’s part of a statewide effort to bring attention to the issue.
The “Let Them Play CA” event will take place at 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15, in Courthouse Museum Park at N. Main and Third streets in downtown Lakeport.
Students and parents of all Lake County schools are welcomed.
Let Them Play CA is a group of parents, coaches and youth advocates organizing rallies in dozens of communities across the state this week.
Organizers are inviting community members to come and participate through a peaceful rally with signs and banners as they support their local youth sports teams.
They will encourage mask wearing and distancing, and will have extra masks on hand, said Gerard Fowler, a Lake County organizer.
He said the whole movement formed about two weeks ago, with the group now having more than 31,000 Facebook members. From there, an idea for a rally started with one member and is now being endorsed by the group.
“We literally started planning Monday,” he said Wednesday night.
Fowler said he’s planning on having speakers at the rally, including young people hoping to get back on the courts and the fields.
His son, Hayden, a wrestler and football player, is one of those who misses competition and is expected to share his thoughts at the Friday rally.
A roomful of young people had shown up to a Lakeport Unified School Board meeting in November to ask for the board to open in a hybrid, in-person schooling model earlier than January so students could return to classrooms and sports.
By the end of that month, however, Lake County’s COVID-19 caseload had caused the state to place it in the purple tier, the highest on the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, which led to greater restrictions, including preventing schools still in distance learning form opening for in-person instruction.
Through the pandemic so far, it’s been shown that COVID-19 affects children and teens differently than adults, which is one reason why there is a push to be able to reopen schools and sports.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes, “While fewer children have been sick with COVID-19 compared to adults, children can be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, can get sick from COVID-19, and can spread the virus that causes COVID-19 to others.” Like adults, asymptomatic children, can still spread the virus, the agency noted.
Demographic data published by Lake County Public Health on Tuesday showed that of the more than 2,000 COVID-19 cases reported in the county to date, the smallest number of cases – 6 percent – have been in the age 15 to 19 bracket, while 9 percent have been in children age birth to 14, the group with the fourth-lowest number of cases.
As of Tuesday, based on guidelines through the state and the California Interscholastic Federation, for the widespread or purple tier, the school sports that are allowed include cross country, golf, skiing and snowboarding, swimming and diving, tennis and track and field.
Lake County would have to drop down two levels to the orange or moderate tier in order to have sports including football, soccer and volleyball.
The state’s full guidance on youth sports is here.
The CDC also has provided in-depth guidance for youth sports here.
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. – Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said it has expanded its network of enhanced weather technology, including weather stations and high-definition fire-watch cameras in areas of elevated or extreme fire risk.
That network has helped reduce the size of each public safety power shutoff, or PSPS, event in 2020 on average by 55 percent, or more than 800,000 customers, PG&E spokesperson Deanna Contreras told Lake County News.
Last year, far fewer Lake County residents were involved in PSPS events when compared to late 2019; at one point during that time, the entire county was out for nearly a week.
In 2020, PG&E installed 400 new weather stations and 216 HD cameras as part of its Community Wildfire Safety Program.
These high-tech tools provide better situational awareness and more precise weather monitoring and forecasting that allow for more precision in determining where a PSPS is needed, the company reported.
As of the end of 2020, PG&E had 1,000 weather stations and 340 cameras in operation throughout Northern and Central California, providing more precise weather data to the company’s team of meteorologists and outside agencies, the company reported.
Contreras said more than 30 of those weather stations and seven cameras are in Lake County.
“We did expand our network in 2020 with several additions in Lake County,” Contreras said.
She said 12 weather stations were installed in 2020 in Lake County, with the last one being placed in October.
The stations allow PG&E to more accurately pinpoint conditions with microlocal forecasting. Contreras said they are able to use the data right away and eliminate an area from PSPS scope.
“As a real-time situational awareness tool, we’re able to use our high-density weather observation network at the start of a PSPS event to assess if forecasted critical fire weather conditions are materializing or not,” explainedAshley Helmetag, PG&E senior meteorologist. “In a PSPS event, if the conditions are not materializing above risk thresholds, then we’re able to use this data as a one of our decision-making support tools to significantly shrink or eliminate an area that was originally in scope for power shut off.”
In addition to PG&E’s in-house meteorology team, the expert staff in the company’s Wildfire Safety Operations Center rely on this real-time information, as well as outside agencies and first-responders as they make critical decisions during wildfire season.
PG&E has been adding to its network of weather stations and cameras since 2018, mostly in high fire-threat areas in Northern and Central California.
The program, which plans to install 1,300 weather stations by the end of 2021, is designed to create a density of roughly one weather station for every 20 miles of electric lines in high fire-threat areas.
By the end of 2022, PG&E plans to have nearly 600 cameras installed. When complete, PG&E expects to have the ability to see in real-time roughly 90 percent of the high fire-risk areas it serves.
The stations provide temperature, wind speed and humidity data that is monitored, tracked and evaluated by PG&E’s meteorology team and analysts in the WSOC.
The WSOC is the hub from which PG&E detects, evaluates and monitors wildfire threats across its service area. It’s also where the company instigates responses to those threats and a center for coordination with first responders and public safety officials.
Weather station observations are available to state and local agencies as well as the public, through PG&E’s website at www.pge.com/weather and through MesoWest.
The WSOC staff also use PG&E’s network of fire-watch cameras to monitor and respond to wildfires. These resources are also available to Cal Fire and other fire agencies, as needed.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall seated its new board members for the year on Thursday, also approving updated bylaws regarding election rules.
MATH, which just marked the 14th anniversary of its formation last month, held its first meeting of the year over Zoom on Thursday evening.
The group approved bylaws revisions allowing for nominations by proxy for those who can’t attend a meeting in person. The updated rules also call for seating board nominees rather than holding an election if the number of candidates doesn’t exceed the number of open seats.
MATH also received an update on the activities of the South Lake County Fire Council.
Toward the end of the meeting, the new board members were seated.
Paul Baker, who has served as secretary over the past year, along with previous MATH Board member Ken Gonzales and businesswoman Monica Rosenthal, were all nominated and accepted the nominations at the December meeting.
Gonzales will hold the seat representing Middletown proper while Baker and Rosenthal will be at-large members.
They join continuing MATH Board members Rosemary Córdova and Lisa Kaplan.
For the new year, Córdova will be chair, Rosenthal will be her co-chair and Kaplan will serve as secretary.
MATH will next meet on Feb. 11.
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.
Lakeport City Clerk/Administrative Services Director Kelly Buendia, top left, administered the oath of office separately to new Lakeport Planning Commission members, clockwise, Scott Barnett, Kurt Combs and Nathan Maxman. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lakeport Planning Commission held its first meeting of the new year on Wednesday evening, with the three new commissioners taking their oaths, new officers elected for the coming year and a discussion of a county pilot program to allow for microenterprise home kitchen operations.
At the start of the hour-and-a-half-long virtual meeting, City Clerk/Administrative Services Director Kelly Buendia administered the oath of office to Scott Barnett, Kurt Combs and Nathan Maxman, who the Lakeport City Council appointed to three vacant commission seats in December.
They join Mark Mitchell and Jeff Warrenburg, now in their first terms.
Warrenburg nominated Mitchell as chair, with Maxman seconding. Combs nominated Warrenburg as vice chair. The commission voted unanimously to approve both of those nominations.
Both Buendia and Community Development Director Jenni Byers then gave a presentation on the commission’s duties and responsibilities, including the requirements of the Brown Act.
Also on Wednesday, the commission discussed the new pilot program for microenterprise home kitchen operations that the Board of Supervisors approved in November under the auspices of AB 626.
Microenterprise home kitchen operations are home-based businesses that may prepare a maximum of 30 meals per day or 60 meals a week, with annual sales not to exceed $50,000.
The pilot runs from Jan. 4 to June 30, allows up to two permits per month and a maximum of two per supervisorial district. Lake County Environmental Health is the lead agency, with Byers noting that a city business permit will be required, along with landlord permission, and zoning and minor use permits.
City staff explained that Lake County Environmental Health will handle the health-related issues and inspections while the city will follow up on conditions related to parking and other requirements.
Byers said that AB 626 requires a local health department to act as the lead agency, so if the county chooses not to continue with the program after the pilot time period ends, the city wouldn’t continue with it either.
Associate Planner Dan Chance said they have had a member of the public come in to ask about the program. That individual was interested in producing cupcakes, a food product covered under the cottage kitchen law, which the city already allows.
Under that law, Chance said the city has granted home occupation permits over the last few years for those who want to bake cookies or make cakes for sale from their homes.
Maxman asked what kind of timeline Byers anticipated should staff work on creating city rules to allow the operations in the city. Byers said they could have something in place by March or April.
Maxman said he was concerned about the city not having something in place, and Byers explained that if the city has no rules of its own, the county could permit such operations in the city limits. However, Chance added, he didn’t think the county would do that without city input.
“We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel on anything,” said Byers, explaining that staff could look at the Lake County ordinance and utilize it. However, she said that based on the law, the city can’t have more restrictions in its ordinance than are included in the county’s.
Warrenberg moved to direct staff to prepare a minute order to initiate a text amendment to the Lakeport Zoning Ordinance to address microenterprise home kitchen operations and work with the county in order than the text amendment would be in effect prior to the end of the county pilot program.
Barnett seconded the motion, which the commission approved 5-0.
The commission will next meet on Feb. 10.
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.
Scott A Imberman, Michigan State University; Dan Goldhaber, University of Washington, and Katharine O. Strunk, Michigan State University
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.
The big idea
We found that schools can reopen for in-person instruction without further spreading COVID-19 in nearby communities if the number of people with the disease is relatively low. But if there are more than 21 cases per 100,000 people, COVID-19 spread may increase.
To reach this conclusion, we used data from September through December 2020 in Michigan and Washington states – both of which allowed districts to decide whether or not to offer in-person schooling at that time – to analyze how these different instructional decisions affect COVID-19 case rates.
It’s hard to figure this out because other factors, such as social distancing and the use of masks, could be to blame. So it might appear that going to school in person makes COVID-19 spread, but really it is due to safety habits – or the lack thereof – especially if those same communities are more likely to send students back to school in person.
We tried to address this concern by including information in our statistical analyses on such practices as mask-wearing in a community and how a county voted in 2016. Political preference was an important factor to consider, because Republicans appear less likely than Democrats to comply with COVID-19 safety measures. Republicans are also more likely to encourage in-person instruction during the pandemic.
Despite our findings, coronavirus very likely does transmit in schools to some degree. But the spread of COVID-19 there may simply reflect what’s going on in the surrounding community.
Kids and educators may be just as safe in school buildings – or possibly even safer – than they would be elsewhere.
Why it matters
Most districts closed the doors of their school buildings in March and did not reopen them for the remainder of the school year, instead offering students remote instruction.
Given these challenges, many districts chose to offer in-person or hybrid instruction last fall. But as the number of COVID-19 cases rises, districts like Chicago’s and others are facing the difficult decision of whether to open schools – or to keep them open. To date there has been little data to guide them. Our study provides some of the first U.S.-based evidence to policymakers as they make these difficult choices.
What still isn’t known
While we provide specific estimates of when COVID-19 rates are high enough that the virus will likely spread as a result of opening schools, they should be treated with caution because statistical estimates are subject to error. The takeaway is not to focus on specific thresholds but rather to understand that levels exist at which in-person schooling contributes to community spread.
Moreover, how schools open and the safety measures they take are likely to play a role in terms of what happens with COVID-19 cases. Schools can, for example, bring back only some students, require masks and keep desks spaced several feet apart from one another. These practices probably reduce transmission of the disease.
However, we are not able to assess how much these steps might help because we do not have information on safety protocols in individual schools or whether schools are following those protocols.
What other research is being done
So far, while there are some studies on how COVID-19 has affected learning, especially how the pandemic may be disproportionately harming the education of low-income and minority students, there is not much research about how the disease is spreading in U.S. schools. One study found associations between school closures in the spring of 2020 and reductions in COVID-19 deaths. However, other social distancing policies were enacted at the same time, making the contribution of schools unclear.
A new study found results similar to ours when examining hospitalizations – that in-person instruction was associated with more nearby hospitalizations when existing COVID-19 rates were high, but that there was no such correlation when rates were low.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Woodland Community College will be providing another round of COVID-19 Relief Grants to eligible students during the spring 2021 semester.
These grants will be made possible due to the approval of the Federal Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021.
The funds will be offered as direct cash payments to students to provide economic relief to be applied for expenses such as enrollment fees, food, housing, healthcare, technology and childcare.
Students who are enrolled in six or more units during the spring 2021 semester will be eligible for the additional aid.
The grant amounts will range from $300 to $550 and will be automatically disbursed in February.
The spring semester starts on Monday, Jan. 25.
The college offered a similar grant program last year from resources provided by the CARES Act.
With these new federal stimulus funds, the college also plans to expand its emergency grant program to support students experiencing hardships related to education and housing.
The application to access additional COVID-19 relief emergency funds will be available to students throughout the spring 2021 semester.
“Our students have had a difficult time continuing their education during the pandemic because of the extra pressures associated with distance education and the costs to access technology. These additional resources will help alleviate some of the obstacles and increase financial availability to our student body to help with their educational attainment” said Woodland Community College College President Dr. Art Pimentel.
Students should visit the college’s website at http://wcc.yccd.edu or call the financial aid office at 707-995-7923 for additional information.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The two members of the House of Representatives who represent Lake County voted on Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time.
House Resolution 24 leveled one charge against Trump, “incitement of insurrection” for the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Congressman John Garamendi (CA-03) and Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-05) issued statements explaining their votes and the decisions behind them following the House vote of 232 to 197.
Both men also had voted on Tuesday to support the passage of House Resolution 21, urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, gather the Cabinet and remove the president from office.
The House of Representatives first impeached Trump in December 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, with both Garamendi and Thompson voting in support. The U.S. Senate would acquit Trump in February 2020.
Trump, a Republican, is the third U.S. president to be impeached.
The first was Andrew Johnson, a Democrat and vice president to President Abraham Lincoln, who the House of Representatives impeached in February 1868 for charges he violated the Tenure of Office Act for trying to remove Secretary of War Edwin Stanton from office without Senate approval.
Johnson was not convicted in the Senate following a nearly three-month trial. Each of the votes on the articles of impeachment fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority by just one vote.
He served only one term as president, but later was reelected to the U.S. Senate, where he had served before becoming Lincoln’s running mate in 1864.
The second president to be impeached was Bill Clinton, also a Democrat. The House impeached Clinton in December 1998 for perjury to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice, charges that had arisen because he had lied to cover his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Clinton was, at that time, in his second term as president.
The Senate acquitted Clinton on both charges in February 1999 following a trial that lasted more than a month.
The Senate is expected to consider Trump’s impeachment later this month. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said senators aren’t expected to return until, at the earliest, Jan. 19, the day before President-elect Joe Biden is to be sworn in as the 46th president.
The written statements from Garamendi and Thompson are published in their entirety below.
Rep. John Garamendi’s statement on impeachment of President Trump
“I rise today with great sadness and anger over the events that transpired on Jan. 6, and with a steadfast determination to ensure those who incited and committed the unconscionable acts on that day are brought to justice.
“Last week’s violent insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, which has left at least six people dead and dozens injured, was a stain on our nation. The president’s blatantly false claims about election fraud, which were parroted by current administration officials and Members of the House and Senate, finally reached a tipping point last week when these bald-faced lies gave way to a violent assault on our Capitol. Even after 64 failed attempts in federal court to substantiate the baseless claims about election fraud, the president, his administration, and members of Congress continued to double down and use these mistruths to incite a mob that staged a bloody insurrection against the United States Government. They beat and murdered police officers, planted pipe bombs, brandished weapons, and left our nation shocked and in mourning.
“What does it mean, then, for America that a sitting President invited thousands of his most fervent supporters to Washington and incited them to commence a violent occupation of the world’s citadel of democracy – the United States Capitol?
“Without a proper check and proportional response to these events, we will be doomed to relive the same hell over and over again. In time, we will lose our democracy, our hallowed institutions, and irreparably tear at the very fabric of our nation. As elected leaders of this nation, we have a right, but more importantly, a moral obligation to respond to those who incited this riot in the strongest possible terms.
“Just as this Congress returned mere hours after this insurrection to certify the lawful results of the 2020 Presidential election, we stand here today prepared to take firm, decisive, and necessary action to restore our country from the heinous state it spiraled into on 1/6/2021.
“The president’s violent rhetoric and actions pose a significant threat to our nation. No president who invites thousands of his most devoted supporters to Washington and urges them to ‘fight’ his political enemies by committing a seditious attack on our Capitol should be allowed to remain in office. Our nation has endured and persevered through so much, and it will survive this president. But if we do not act and hold him accountable, then we will leave our nation vulnerable to a future demagogue. That brings us here on this somber day to carry out our sacred oath to defend and protect the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic.
“Today, I voted to impeach President Donald Trump,” Garamendi said.
Thompson votes to impeach Trump, cites his attempt to incite attack on Capitol and decimate democracy
“Our institution of representative democracy is a beacon of hope for millions of people around the world and has been for nearly 250 years. Last week, the president changed that when he sent domestic terrorists to tear that beacon down. He put the lives of every person in the Capitol at risk, from those in the line of succession, to Members of Congress, to the employees and staff, to the Capitol Police officers. He incited a mob that wanted to hang the Vice President, kill the Speaker and take hostages. This is the most unconscionable thing I’ve ever seen.
“This attack, incited by the President, was an attempt to disrupt the Constitutional process to certify the vote of the Electoral College. Make no mistake, it was an attempt to overturn our presidential election and decimate democracy. This seditious act must have consequences. That’s why today I voted for the article of impeachment charging the president with inciting this grave attack. He must be held accountable. The Senate must swiftly convict and remove him from office.”
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.
