LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – U.S. Forest Service officials said work is continuing in the vast area burned by the Mendocino Complex.

The Mendocino Complex is the largest wildland fire in California at 459,123 acres, which includes the 410,203-acre Ranch fire and the River fire, which burned 48,920 acres.

The complex was fully contained on Sept. 19, as Lake County News has reported.

The Northern California Team 1 has been managing the suppression repair activities of the Mendocino Complex since Sept. 17.

The management of the complex transitioned back to the Mendocino National Forest on Monday, with Jason Kraling serving as the incident commander, officials said.

The Forest Service said the fireline has been secured to prevent further growth. The remaining resources will continue to extinguish any smoldering vegetation near containment lines and fall trees that pose a hazard to firefighters working in the area.

Officials said the Mendocino National Forest is doing everything possible to reasonably reduce risks to the public and reopen areas. The goal is to reduce erosion and other impacts from suppression activities and there is still a lot of restoration work to do.

As of Monday, there were 6.5 miles of fireline still to be repaired, the Forest Service reported.

The Ranch fire area is closed as described in Forest Order 08-18-15. The purpose of the closure is to provide for public safety and for the firefighters who are engaged in repair efforts within the Ranch Fire closure area. The closure area applies to all public use, including hunting, the use of firearms and off-highway vehicles.

The northern half of the forest is open for outdoor activities.

The B-Zone deer hunting season continues until Sunday, Oct. 21. Forest visitors need to exercise extreme caution near the fire closure since heavy equipment and firefighting vehicles are utilizing area roads. Visitors can contact the ranger station nearest their destination for current information.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Sept. 20, 18 Lake County residents completed the 20th session of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Citizens’ Academy.

The academy consisted of 15 three-hour classes offering classroom and hands-on instruction by deputy sheriffs, custody staff, supervisors, civilian employees and command staff members whose assignments were specific to the subjects of training.

The next academy is set to begin in the summer of 2019. Anyone interested in learning about the services provided by the sheriff’s office and becoming a more informed member of the community is encouraged to participate in this worthwhile program.

Those wishing to enroll can do so by visiting the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Web site at www.lakesheriff.com.

Applications will be accepted starting in the spring of 2019.

There is no cost to those attending the academy. However, applicants must meet the following minimum qualifications:

• Resident or employment in Lake County;
• At least 18 years of age;
• No felony convictions;
• No misdemeanor convictions within three years;
• Able to attend all fourteen sessions.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Unified School District Board held a special Saturday afternoon meeting with Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry to discuss what possible help the state can offer as the district faces financial challenges and the need for more money to finish a list of bond projects.

The hour-long meeting at the district office on Howard Avenue was a brainstorming session that focused on what state funding might be available to the district.

One of the chief projects the district is seeking funding to complete is a new pool to replace the existing Westshore Pool, built in the 1970s and not up to state specifications.

At a meeting earlier this month, board members heard from community members who accused them of not putting the pool as a high enough priority on the list of projects to be funded by the 2014 Measure T, which raised $17 million. Just over $3 million is left for projects.

District officials said costs to complete projects have been far higher than anticipated due to various reasons, including the rebuilding of the North Bay after last year’s wildland fires and the difficulty in finding contractors.

After hearing from the board about the pool, Aguiar-Curry noted, “This is a common story,” adding that in Winters, where she had served as mayor, the high school had similar issues.

She told the board that the county of Lake is strapped, so it’s unlikely to offer any financial support to the district, adding that the school board needed to get the community’s support.

“The pool meant more than you thought it was going to mean, right?” she asked.

Aguiar-Curry said she can put in for a budget request for Proposition 51 funds. District officials have estimated that Lakeport Unified is eligible for about $11 million in Proposition 51 money.

Board President Dennis Darling said the district has applied for the funds already, but not for the pool; rather, it’s asking for funds to backfill what was spent on the new kitchen and learning center. Aguiar-Curry asked for filing information so she could follow up with the state on the application.

Aguiar-Curry said that, one of the most frustrating things in her job is that rural communities are left out, and often have to compete with larger communities to get any funding.

“This is not a story that I have not heard before but having this conversation helps,” she said.

The discussion also touched on the difficulties of getting materials and contractors. Superintendent April Leiferman pointed out that the recently implemented tariffs have impacted neighboring Kelseyville Unified's bond projects, prompting that district to change from steel to wood construction.

Aguiar-Curry said she’s heard complaints about bonds before, referring to schools bonds in Winters and noting that small schools get behind on building and maintenance.

She said that Gov. Jerry Brown is sympathetic and empathetic to rural communities and Lake County, which the state wants to help in light of what it’s faced over the past several years. “You guys have been beat up.”

Still, she acknowledged that the pool will be tough to address, with district board members explaining it will be part of a larger sports complex that also includes a new weight room and will support all high school athletics.

“What can we do to help you help us?” Darling asked.

Aguiar-Curry asked for the board to send her a letter signed by all of them requesting she pursue funding for a list of projects, and she’ll work on ways to bring the funds here.

At the end of the meeting – which also briefly touched on a number of other topics, including teacher hiring and retention, and Internet service – Aguiar-Curry acknowledged the tough decisions the district has to make.

The No. 1 thing, she said, is that it’s “all about our children.”

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, Calif. – On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors is due to consider the final recommended budget for the new fiscal year.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx . Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.

In an item timed for 10:15 a.m., the board will hold a public hearing – continued from Sept .18 – to consider the 2018-19 budget.

The resolution for the new budget puts budget appropriations at $242 million, $12 million higher than the budget the board approved at this time last year.

That breaks down as follows:

– Salaries and benefits: $82,406,369.
– Services and supplies: $78,391,869.
– Other charges: $37,599,439.
– Fixed assets: $12,861,097.
– Construction in progress: $34,782,269.
– Other financing uses: $4,178,496.
– Contingencies: $1,125,500.

The full agenda follows.

CONTRACT CHANGE ORDER

5.1: Consideration of Contract Change Order No. 1 for Mockingbird Lane at Robinson Creek Bridge Replacement Project, Federal Project No. BRLO-5914(105); Bid No. 18-01.

CONSENT AGENDA

6.1: (a) Adopt resolution establishing salaries and benefits for management employees for the period from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019; (b) adopt resolution establishing salaries and benefits for employees assigned to the Confidential Unit, Section A, for July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019; and (c) adopt resolution establishing salaries and benefits for employees assigned to the Confidential Unit, Section B, for July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.

6.2: Adopt resolution amending the county of Lake’s classification plan for the classification of chief deputy district attorney investigator.

6.3: Adopt resolution approving Agreement No. 17-043-008-SF with the state of California, Department of Food and Agriculture for compliance with the Pierce's Disease Contract Program and authorizing execution thereof.

6.4: Authorize the closure of all Behavioral Health facilities for a departmental fire/disaster debriefing on Wednesday, Oct. 3, from the hours of 8 a.m. to noon.

6.5: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and North Valley Behavioral Health LLC. for the Fiscal Year 2018-19 for a contract maximum of $150,000; and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

6.6: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and North Valley Behavioral Health LLC. for the Fiscal Year 2018-19 for a contract maximum of $38,250 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

6.7: Approve modification to purchase order for the purchase of one used Hyster forklift and authorize the Public Works director/assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order not to exceed $20,050.39 to Pape Material Handling.

6.8: Approve equitable sharing agreement and certification between the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the US Department of Justice; and authorize the sheriff and chair to sign.

6.9: Authorize the closure of all Social Services facilities for staff enrichment, appreciation and team building on Thursday, Oct. 4, from the hours of noon to 5 p.m.

TIMED ITEMS

7.2, 9:06 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local health emergency by the lake county health officer due to the Pawnee fire incident.

7.3, 9:07 a.m.: (a) Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local health emergency by the Lake County health officer due to the Mendocino Complex Fire; and (b) status report on Mendocino Complex fire also known as the River and Ranch fires.

7.4, 9:10 a.m.: Presentation of Employee Service Awards.

7.5, 9:40 a.m.: Public hearing, consideration of request for six year subdivision map extension (SDX 17-04) of tentative merger and resubdivision map (MRS 06-01) for project known as Kaylee Court; project location is 5105 and 5209 Konocti Road and 5575 Vista Mountain Estates Drive, Kelseyville (APNs 008-054-22, 23 & 24); applicant is Walter Schlicher; and consideration of request for reconsideration of previously approved mitigated negative declaration based on initial study (IS 06-86).

7.6, 10 a.m.: Public hearing to consider accepting the Community Development Block Grant funded homelessness study.

7.7, 10:15 a.m.: Public hearing, continued from Sept. 18, consideration of the final recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2018/2019 for the county of Lake and Special Districts governed by the Board of Supervisors.

UNTIMED ITEMS

8.2: Sitting as Lake County Watershed Protection District Board of Directors, consideration of a resolution in support of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board funding and implementing a multi-year continuous nutrient monitoring program to measure post-fire effects of the Mendocino Complex fires on Clear Lake.

8.3: Sitting as the Lake County Air Quality Management District Board of Directors, consideration of reappointment of Mark Burkdoll, public member, to the Lake County Air Quality Management District Hearing Board for a three-year term.

8.4: Consideration of a resolution to declare certain county real property as surplus property and to declare the intention to authorize conveyance to the adjoining landowner.

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, Calif. – Do you know who to trust in an emergency?

When a life-threatening event such as a heart attack or severe injury occurs, the first step is to call 911.

However, the response to an emergency goes far beyond an ambulance ride to the hospital.

Sutter Lakeside Hospital is hosting a free emergency services showcase at the hospital on Thursday, Sept. 27, from 5 p.m. until 6 p.m., where community members can see a medical helicopter, tour an ambulance, meet first responders and tour the emergency department.

The showcase, held in the Emergency Department parking lot, will include light refreshments and free giveaways; partners include REACH Air and the Lakeport Fire Department.

“Familiarity can help lessen the fear of visiting an emergency department,” said Nicole Lamm, RN, manager of the ED. “This event offers a fun way to get to know our team without the stress of an urgent injury or illness.”

“We’re proud to serve our community as the only trauma center and the only certified stroke center in Lake County,” said Dan Peterson, chief administrative officer, Sutter Lakeside Hospital. “Because of advances in technology and the support of the Sutter Health system, stroke patients in Lake County have access to top neurologists through telemedicine. While Sutter Lakeside has earned recognition for its excellent clinical care, our strength is bolstered by network support for the services not available in Lake County.”

California’s correctional officers are regularly exposed to traumatic events that make them more likely to grapple with depression, PTSD and suicidal thoughts, according to a new report released by researchers at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.

The first-of-its kind report is based on the 2017 California Correctional Officer Survey, or CCOS, on Health and Wellness, a large-scale effort to gather individual-level information on the thoughts, attitudes and experiences of more than 8,000 criminal justice personnel, including prison guards and parole officers.

With few exceptions, the lives and well-being of correctional officers have been excluded from academic research and are absent from policy discussions about correctional programs and reform.

As a comprehensive 2013 Department of Justice report aptly summarized: “Health and wellness among those who work in correctional agencies is an issue that has always existed, but is just starting to get the increasing attention that it deserves.”

The report summarizes the results of the CCOS across a set of broad categories: mental and physical wellness; exposure to violence; attitudes towards rehabilitation and punishment; job training and management; work-life balance; and training and support.

At the same time, it documents the difficulties of encouraging law enforcement personnel to seek the assistance they need.

Highlights of the findings include:

– Officers are exposed to violence at very high levels. More than half of correctional officers report that violent incidents are a regular occurrence at the prison where they work. Almost 30 percent reported being seriously injured at work, and 85 percent reported seeing someone seriously injured or killed.

– Work-related stress has significant health consequences. Fifty percent of officers say they rarely feel safe at work, and officers who don’t feel safe at work are more likely to report headaches, digestive issues, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease than other correctional officers.

– Depression is a way of life for many law enforcement personnel. More than one-third of officers report that someone in their lives has told them they have become more anxious or depressed since they started working in corrections. Twenty-eight percent report often or sometimes feeling down, depressed or hopeless, and 38 percent have little interest or pleasure in doing things.

– One in 3 have experienced at least one symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder. Moreover, 40 percent of officers report that they have experienced an event so frightening, horrible or upsetting at work that they have had nightmares about it.

– Ten percent of correctional officers have thought about killing themselves. The rate of suicidal thoughts is even higher for retired correctional officers (1 in 7). Of those who say they have thought about suicide, 31 percent report thinking about it often or sometimes in the past year. More than 7 in 10 haven’t told anyone, meaning that many are suffering in silence.

– Only a minority of officers say they have ever used the state-sponsored programs meant to improve their well-being. For example, only 18 percent reported ever having used the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and only 3 percent say they have made use of the Peer Support Volunteer program. Many officers said they were worried about privacy: One-fifth of correctional officers say they worry about repercussions if they were to reach out to EAP for help with work-related mental health issues.

“Corrections is extremely difficult and emotionally demanding work,” said Amy Lerman, the lead author of the study and a professor of public policy and political science. “We are just beginning to understand the huge range of mental and physical health issues that can result from exposure to violence and untreated toxic stress in the workplace. Agencies around the country are starting to look for ways to better support personnel – for the good of their employees and their families, the incarcerated population, and the system as a whole.”

Perspective makes a world of difference.

It’s the difference between what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s bad and what’s good, and who’s a hero and who’s a villain.

It’s also both the maker of legends and the source of their debunking.

Take the life and work of one John Chapman.

You haven’t heard of him? Well, let me help alter your perspective. John Chapman is better known as Johnny Appleseed.

Born John Chapman in Leominster, Massachusetts, on Sept. 26, 1774, he was the son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Chapman. When he was just 2 years old, his father left the family to fight first as a minuteman at the Battle of Concord, and later as a soldier in the Continental Army under General George Washington.

While her husband was away fighting, Elizabeth died giving birth to what would have been John’s little sibling. When he came back from the Revolution, Nathaniel remarried and gave little Johnny 10 half-siblings.

Very little is known about John’s early life. Sometime in his young adulthood, he made his way out west to Ohio, likely with the rest of his family. Since his father was a farmer, John was likely encouraged to become an orchardist – a very profitable specialty.

Regardless of how it happened, we know that by 1812, John Chapman had established himself as an independent orchardist and nurseryman – a job that required him to travel frequently.

Throughout his life, John would travel through Ohio and Pennsylvania, planting orchards of his preferred crop (apples) seemingly at random. In reality, cold hard economics dictated where he set out his orchards.

John Chapman would plant an orchard and return, some years later, to sell off his crop and the land around it. You see, orchards (and other crops) served as a strong legal claim to property along the frontiers of America at the time. By traveling around and planting orchards of apples, John Chapman staked claim to valuable virgin land. At the time of his death, he owned 1,200 acres.

While travelling all over the American frontier, John Chapman also preached his religion. He was a member of the New Church, also known as the Church of Swedenborg.

Informed by the writings of scientist and Swedish Lutheran theologian Emanuel Swedenborg, the New Church believed Swedenborg’s claim that he had received divine visions of the traditional Christian religion being replaced by a new one.

John’s preaching of this doctrine likely added to his eccentricity and encouraged his later assumption to legend.

Other eccentricities of Mr. Chapman included his penchant for walking around in a threadbare outfit, absent shoes but with a tin hat on his head.

He was a firm believer in animal rights and was a lifelong vegetarian. In this perspective of the man, people excused his quirks because they heard that as a child John had been kicked in the head by a horse.

The other perspective of John Chapman celebrates his eccentricities and paints him as Johnny Appleseed – an itinerant outdoorsman who introduced apples to the American frontier.

In this version of the man, the economic incentive for his planting is expunged along with all mention that the apples he planted were used to make hard cider, not sweet apple pies.

So, on the one hand we have John Chapman, slightly addled by a swift kick in the noggin but otherwise a shrewd businessman who capitalized on loose land laws and the alcoholic tendencies of his fellow man.

But on the other is the childhood nursery character of Johnny Appleseed, a jolly wanderer who spread joy and seeds wherever he went.

Like I said, perspective makes a world of difference.

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.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Control has a full shelter of all kinds of dogs ready for new homes.

Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Chihuahua, Corgi, German Shepherd, husky, Labrador Retriever, pit bull, Rottweiler and shepherd.

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.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

‘Mylee’

“Mylee” is a female Chihuahua with a short tan and white coat.

She’s in kennel No. 5, ID No. 11089.

‘Kahlesi’

“Kahlesi” is a female pit bull terrier with a short white and tan coat.

She’s in kennel No. 7, ID No. 11087.

Pit bull terrier

This female pit bull terrier has a short white and gray coat.

She’s in kennel No. 8, ID No. 11074.

‘Hashi’

“Hashi” is a male pit bull terrier-shepherd mix.

He has a short tan coat.

He’s already been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 13, ID No. 7499.

‘Aba’

“Aba” is a female shepherd found in the Lakeport area during the Mendocino Complex.

She has a short black and tan coat and has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 14, ID No. 10840.

‘Winston’

“Winston” is a male pit bull terrier-Rottweiler taken in from the city of Lakeport during the Mendocino Complex.

He has a short black and brown coat and has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 15, ID No. 10970.

Female Corgi

This female Corgi has a short tricolor coat.

She’s in kennel No. 17, ID No. 10952.

‘Ziggy’

“Ziggy” is a male pit bull terrier with a short black and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 18, ID No. 10979.

Female pit bull

This female pit bull has a short brown coat.

She’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. 10934.

Male terrier

This male terrier has a short black coat with white markings.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 22, ID No. 11048.

German Shepherd-husky mix

This male German Shepherd-husky mix has a short black and tan coat.

He’s in kennel No. 23, ID No. 11051.

‘Naquysa’

“Naquysa,” which means “Star,” is a female husky-shepherd mix with a long black and tan coat.

She’s in kennel No. 27, ID No. 11000.

Male pit bull

This male pit bull terrier has a short brindle coat.

He’s in kennel No. 30, ID No. 11046.

Female Labrador Retriever

This female Labrador Retriever has a short yellow coat.

She already has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 33, ID No. 11047.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm.

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

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. – Every day, thousands of parents and caregivers in California travel with children in their vehicle.

During Child Passenger Safety Week, Sept. 23 to 29, the California Highway Patrol will work with its traffic safety partners throughout the state to make sure all children are riding safely.

In a nationwide study, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, found that two out of three car seats are misused.

Motor vehicle collisions are a leading killer of children, and NHTSA data shows that such fatalities are on the rise, with 2016 being the deadliest for children under the age of 13 riding in vehicles.

Parents and caregivers can prevent such tragedies by learning the proper use of car seats, booster seats, and seat belts.

For example, NHTSA has reported one-fourth of children age four to seven are using seat belts when they should still be riding in booster seats.

Child passenger safety experts and the CHP advise that children be kept in an appropriate child seat until they reach the upper height and weight allowed by the car seat manufacturer.

California law requires that all children under the age of two, weighing under 40 pounds and under 40 inches tall, to ride in a rear- facing car seat.

All children under the age of 8 must ride in the back seat in an age-appropriate safety seat. Safety experts recommend that all children ride in the back seat until the age of 13.

For more information about child passenger safety, visit https://www.chp.ca.gov/Programs-Services/Programs/Child-Safety-Seats.

“Children rely on their parents and caregivers to keep them safe during every single trip,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “The CHP will help you make sure you are using the right car seat, installed correctly. The consequences of misused or unused car seats can be disastrous.”

At child safety seat events held statewide Sept. 23 to 29, CHP child passenger safety technicians will provide safety seat inspections, education, and hands-on training for parents and caregivers.

Sept. 29 is National Seat Check Saturday. Free inspections by child passenger safety technicians are also available year-round, by appointment, at any CHP Area office.

When an El Niño or its opposite, La Niña, forms in the future, it's likely to cause more intense impacts over many land regions – amplifying changes to temperature, precipitation, and wildfire risk – due to the warming climate.

These are the findings of a new study led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, and published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

The researchers found, for example, that the increased wildfire danger in the southwestern United States associated with La Niña events would become more acute.

Conversely, the cooler and wetter weather in the same region associated with El Niño events would likely become even cooler and even wetter in the future, enhancing associated flood risks.

"The cycling between El Niño and La Niña is responsible for some of the weather whiplash we get from year to year, particularly in the western U.S.," said NCAR scientist John Fasullo, who led the study. "What we find when we look at model simulations of the future is that the whiplash is likely to get more severe."

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, which is NCAR's sponsor, and by the U.S. Department of Energy. Study coauthors are Bette Otto-Bliesner, also of NCAR, and Samantha Stevenson, of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Far-reaching consequences

El Niño events are characterized by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

La Niña's, on the other hand, are defined by cooler-than-average waters in the same region.

These phenomena can influence weather patterns globally, with far-reaching consequences, including changes to crop yields, fire risk, and the heating and cooling demands of homes, workplaces, and other buildings.

The impacts of El Niño and La Niña are particularly pronounced over North America's southern tier, South America, and Australia.

For example, El Niño events tend to cause cooler, wetter weather over the southern U.S. but hotter, drier weather across most of Australia and South America.

Climate model simulations have been divided in their portrayal of how climate change will influence the sea surface temperature changes associated with El Niño and La Niña events.

For this study, the scientists were able to remove this effect and look at what the impact of individual events of a given magnitude would be.

The research team relied on two extensive sets of simulations, one created using the NCAR-based Community Earth System Model, or CESM, and one created using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Earth System Model. Each model was run dozens of times with slightly different starting conditions.

Taken together, the large number of model simulations allowed the scientists to distinguish impacts linked to El Niño and La Niña from those caused by the natural chaos in the climate system.

The scientists looked at how the impacts in the present climate that are tied to a given unit of variability, for example, one degree Celsius of sea surface temperature increase during El Niño or decrease during La Niña, compared to the impacts of that same variation at the end of this century.

In addition to temperature and precipitation, the scientists were able to look at changes to wildfire danger, because CESM includes a wildfire model. This component takes into account the biomass available for burning, along with the influences of temperature and moisture.

The result was that these impacts became more severe in key land regions.

"These simulations show that the continuous rising of global mean temperature will leave regions of the U.S., including California, more vulnerable to severe droughts and widespread wildfires in the future, especially during La Nina years," said Ming Cai, a program officer in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funded the research.

For example, seasonal heat extremes in the southern half of the U.S. during a La Niña like the one that occurred in 2011 would be about 30 percent greater if the La Niña occurred at the end of the century. That warming would be in addition to the expected background warming of the climate system.

"We can't say from this study whether more or fewer El Niños will form in the future – or whether the El Niños that do form will be stronger or weaker," Fasullo said. "But we can say that an El Niño that forms in the future is likely to have more influence over our weather than if the same El Niño formed today."

NASA’s continued quest to explore our solar system and beyond received a boost of new information last week with three key missions proving not only that they are up and running, but that their science potential is exceptional.

On Sept. 17, TESS – the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite – shared its first science observations.

Later in the week, the latest two missions to join NASA’s heliophysics fleet returned first light data: Parker Solar Probe, humanity’s first mission to “touch” the Sun, and GOLD, a mission that studies the dynamic boundary between Earth and space.

Part of the data from TESS’s initial science orbit includes a detailed picture of the southern sky taken with all four of the planet-hunter’s wide-field cameras.

The image captures a wealth of stars and other objects, including systems previously known to have exoplanets, planets beyond our solar system.

TESS will spend the next two years monitoring the nearest, brightest stars for periodic dips in their brightness, known as transits. Such transits suggest a planet may be passing in front of its parent star. TESS is expected to find thousands of new planets using this method.

Together, the two other missions represent two key observation points in the giant system of space – dominated by particles and magnetic energy from the Sun – studied by the field of heliophysics.

Parker Solar Probe will help us understand how the Sun’s atmosphere drives particles out into space; GOLD monitors changes in the space close to Earth, much of them driven by ever-changing solar activity.

The two viewpoints support heliophysics’ focus on our star and how it influences the very nature of space – and, in turn, the atmospheres of planets and human technology.

In early September, each of Parker Solar Probe’s four instrument suites powered on and returned their first observations on the spacecraft’s journey to the Sun.

While the data are not yet examples of the key science observations the spacecraft will take closer to the Sun, they show that each of the instruments is working well.

The instruments work in tandem to measure the Sun’s electric and magnetic fields, and particles from the Sun and solar wind. They also capture images of the solar wind environment around the spacecraft.

The mission’s first close approach to the Sun will be in early November 2018, but even now, still outside the orbit of Venus, the instruments indicate they’re ready to gather measurements of what’s happening in the solar wind.

"All instruments returned data that not only serves for calibration, but also captures glimpses of what we expect them to measure near the Sun to solve the mysteries of the solar atmosphere, the corona," said Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Maryland.

WISPR, the mission’s only onboard imager, captured the first snapshots from its journey to the Sun on Sept. 9, 2018. Similarly, the FIELDS instrument suite provided the first magnetic field observations and even captured a burst of radio waves, signatures of a solar flare.

One of the SWEAP instruments sampled its first gust of solar wind, and the ISʘIS instrument – pronounced “ee-sis” and including the symbol for the Sun in its acronym – successfully measured the energetic particle environment.

GOLD’s first light closely followed Parker Solar Probe’s. On Sept. 11, the GOLD – short for Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk – instrument powered on and opened its cover to scan Earth for the first time, returning a full-disk image of the Western Hemisphere in ultraviolet.

In this wavelength of light, which is invisible to the human eye, GOLD enables researchers to view global-scale temperature and composition at the dynamic region where Earth’s upper atmosphere meets space.

GOLD commissioning began Sept. 4 and will run through early October, as the team continues to prepare the instrument for its planned two-year science mission.

“The GOLD mission is a game-changer, providing never-before-seen footage of upper atmospheric weather similar to the very first terrestrial weather satellites,” said Sarah Jones, GOLD mission scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “These global-scale pictures of the boundary between Earth and space will allow scientists to start teasing out the effects coming from the Sun versus those coming from Earth’s weather below.”

With missions both near and far, like bookends in the vast stretch of space between the Sun and Earth, researchers are eager to fill knowledge gaps in our understanding of the complex relationship between solar activity and conditions at Earth.

Historically difficult to observe, the region GOLD studies is little-understood and can undergo dramatic change in as little as an hour. GOLD – which occupies geostationary orbit, hovering 22,000 miles over the Western Hemisphere – will provide hour-by-hour updates on the ever-changing conditions in near-Earth space, known as space weather.

Shifts in space weather can garble space-traveling communications signals, interfere with electronics onboard satellites, endanger astronauts and at their most severe, disrupt power grids.

Meanwhile, Parker Solar Probe will travel into the blazing corona, closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before it. The mission seeks to answer fundamental questions about the Sun – questions that lie at the root of understanding how solar activity shapes space weather across the solar system.

TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by Goddard. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Northrop Grumman, based in Falls Church, Virginia; NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley; the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts; MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts; and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission.

Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA’s Living with a Star Program, or LWS, to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. LWS is managed by Goddard for the Heliophysics Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Johns Hopkins APL manages the Parker Solar Probe mission for NASA. APL designed, built and operates the spacecraft.

GOLD is a NASA mission of opportunity as part of the heliophysics Explorer Program. Goddard manages the Explorer Program for the Heliophysics Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. It is designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the agency's astrophysics and heliophysics programs. GOLD is led by the University of Central Florida. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder built and operates the instrument. The GOLD instrument is hosted on a commercial communications satellite, SES-14, built by Airbus for Luxembourg-based satellite operator, SES.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors has approved moving forward with seeking legislation that would allow the county of Lake to consolidate its auditor-controller and treasurer-tax collector’s offices.

The board gave consensus for the plan at its Tuesday morning meeting.

The proposal calls for county officials to pursue having the county added to a section of California Government Code that allows several counties to consolidate their auditor-controller and treasurer-tax collector’s offices.

In Lake County’s case, Board Chair Jim Steele said it’s an opportunity to streamline fiscal departments and address the county’s financial situation, noting it would be a future option.

“The secondary part of the discussion is whether or not your board desires to raise the educational requirements for the treasurer-tax collector position,” said County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson, noting the county’s current requirements mirror state law.

According to government code, to be eligible to be a county treasurer-tax collector, an individual must meet at least one of the following requirements: have served in a senior financial management position in a county, city or other public agency for a continuous period of not less than three years; possess a valid bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree from an accredited university or college in business administration, public administration, economics, finance, accounting or a related field, with a minimum of 16 college semester units or the equivalent in accounting, auditing or finance; possess a valid certificate issued by the California Board of Accountancy; possess a valid charter issued by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts; or possess a valid certificate issued by the Treasury Management Association.

Huchingson said staff has confirmed that the board can establish qualifications by ordinance, which would set them for future treasurer-tax collectors. The county’s requirements could exceed what is set by state law but not go below them.

A bachelor’s degree in a pertinent field would be required with experience not to be allowed as a substitute for education, Huchingson said.

Cathy Saderlund, the county’s auditor-controller-county clerk, said that the board would have to address the fact that the county clerk’s function is consolidated with the auditor-controller offices, which isn’t reflected in the state code.

She said there are already minimum qualifications in place for her position in current legislation.

Saderlund noted that the county of Napa also is considering the consolidation of their auditor-controller and tax collector.

She acknowledged that there are efficiencies, and that segregation of duties and internal controls can be addressed, adding that she’s happy to assist with the effort.

Treasurer-Tax Collector Barbara Ringen said she understood why the matter was before the board and she also wanted to assist in any research or transition for consolidation of the offices.

Steele noted that Ringen has had problems with staff resources in order to get work done on time, and was having trouble closing the books to bring them forward for the county budget.

County Counsel Anita Grant said the legislation that allowed for a select number of counties to consolidate their tax collector-treasurer and auditor-controller offices didn’t initially include all of the counties now listed, with many of them asking to be added, as Lake is intending to do.

She said the county auditor has auditing powers over the treasurer’s functions as well as the tax collector’s. However, the courts and the California Attorney General’s Office have found that there would is no prohibition to the consolidations under the doctrine of incompatible offices.

By the end of the discussion, which lasted about 20 minutes, Steele had unanimous consensus from the board to move forward will pursuing the legislative change and majority support for making the minimum qualifications for the offices a bachelor’s degree, which will apply to future office holders.

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.