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- Written by: Lake County News reports
NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft orbiting the moon officially have begun their science collection phase.
During the next 84 days, scientists will obtain a high-resolution map of the lunar gravitational field to learn about the moon's internal structure and composition in unprecedented detail.
The data also will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved.
“The initiation of science data collection is a time when the team lets out a collective sigh of relief because we are finally doing what we came to do,” said Maria Zuber, principal investigator for the GRAIL mission at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. “But it is also a time where we have to put the coffee pot on, roll up our sleeves and get to work.”
The GRAIL mission's twin, washing-machine-sized spacecraft, named Ebb and Flow, entered lunar orbit on New Year's Eve and New Years Day. GRAIL's science phase began on Tuesday, March 6, at 5:15 p.m. PST.
During this mission phase, the spacecraft will transmit radio signals precisely defining the distance between them.
As they fly over areas of greater and lesser gravity caused by visible features such as mountains, craters and masses hidden beneath the lunar surface, the distance between the two spacecraft will change slightly.
Science activities are expected to conclude on May 29, after GRAIL maps the gravity field of the moon three times.
“We are in a near-polar, near-circular orbit with an average altitude of about 34 miles (55 kilometers) right now,” said David Lehman, GRAIL project manager from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. “During the science phase, our spacecraft will orbit the moon as high as 31 miles (51 kilometers) and as low as 10 miles (16 kilometers). They will get as close to each other as 40 miles (65 kilometers) and as far apart as 140 miles (225 kilometers).”
Previously named GRAIL A and B, the names Ebb and Flow were the result of a nation-wide student contest to choose new names for the spacecraft.
The winning entry was submitted by fourth graders from the Emily Dickinson Elementary School in Bozeman, Mont.
Nearly 900 classrooms with more than 11,000 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, participated in the contest.
JPL manages the GRAIL mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
The GRAIL mission is part of the Discovery Program managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft.
For more information about GRAIL, visit http://www.nasa.gov/grail .
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – January saw Lake County's unemployment inch upward, while state and national unemployment rates edged down.
The California Employment Development Department's monthly report on unemployment – based on two separate surveys – showed that California’s unemployment rate decreased to 10.9 percent in January, and nonfarm payroll jobs decreased by 5,200 during the month, for a total gain of 322,400 nonfarm jobs since the recovery began in September 2009.
In December, the state’s unemployment rate was 11.2 percent, and in January 2011 the unemployment rate was 12.1 percent. The unemployment rate is derived from a federal survey of 5,500 California households, the report explained.
The U.S. unemployment rate decreased in January to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The nationwide unemployment rate for January 2011 was 9.1 percent.
Lake County's unemployment rate went from 16 percent in December to 16.5 percent in January, but was down 2.5 percent from January 2011 when it hit 19 percent, according to the report.
The county's statewide ranking for employment improved from 52 in December to 43 in January among the state's 58 counties, according to Employment Development Department data.
Dennis Mullins of the Employment Development Department's North Coast Region Labor Market Information Division said Lake County wage and salary employment decreased in January “following normal seasonal trends.”
Total jobs in Lake County decreased 60 jobs between December and January, but the county's jobs were up by 420 over this time last year, Mullins said.
Year-over-year job growth occurred in farm, 390; trade, transportation and utilities, 50; financial activities, 10; professional and business services, 40; and other services, 60, according to Mullins.
Manufacturing and leisure and hospitality had no change in job numbers since January 2011, Mullins reported.
He said industry sectors that showed job declines over the year included mining, logging and construction, with a loss of 40 jobs; information, 10; private educational and health services, 20; and government, down by 60, the sector with the largest decline.
According to the Employment Development Department report, surrounding counties' employment figure were as follows: Colusa, 27 percent, No. 58; Glenn, 16.8 percent, No. 45; Mendocino, 10.7 percent, No. 18; Napa and Sonoma County both had 9.2 percent unemployment, tying for ninth place; and Yolo, 14.1 percent, No. 33.
Marin County continued to have the lowest unemployment in the state, at 6.6 percent, while Colusa County's 27-percent rate gained it the state's highest rate.
The Employment Development Department reported that there were 575,895 people receiving regular
unemployment insurance benefits during the January survey week. That's compared with 536,442 in December and 603,946 in January 2011.
At the same time, new claims for unemployment insurance were 59,344 in January 2012, compared with 80,276 in December and 63,331 in January of last year, according to the report.
Small increase noted in employed Californians
The federal survey of households, done with a smaller sample than the survey of employers, showed an increase in the number of employed people.
It estimated the number of Californians holding jobs in January was 16,443,000, an increase of 28,000 from December, and up 308,000 from the employment total in January of last year.
The number of people unemployed in California was 2,020,000 – down by 40,000 over the month, and down by 203,000 compared with January of last year, according to the report.
EDD’s report on payroll employment – wage and salary jobs – in the nonfarm industries of California totaled 14,173,800 in January, a net loss of 5,200 jobs since the December survey. That followed a gain of 38,500 jobs in December and a year-over-year increase of 126,100 jobs, up 0.9 percent, based on a survey of 42,000 California businesses.
Six categories – mining and logging; construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; professional and business services; and leisure and hospitality – added jobs over the month, gaining 35,400 jobs, the state reported. Trade, transportation and utilities posted the largest increase over the month, adding 14,400 jobs.
Five categories – information, financial activities, educational and health services, other services and government – reported job declines over the month, down 40,600 jobs, according to the state.
Information posted the largest decrease over the month, down 22,900 jobs. In a year-over-year comparison – January 2011 to January 2012 – nonfarm payroll employment in California increased by 126,100 jobs, an increase of 0.9 percent.
Six categories – mining and logging; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; professional and business services; educational and health services; and leisure and hospitality – posted job gains over the year, adding 181,700 jobs, the Friday report showed.
Professional and business services posted the largest gain on a numerical basis, adding 61,000 jobs, up
2.9 percent. The report said that mining and logging posted the largest gain on a percentage basis, up by
3.6 percent, an increase of 1,000 jobs.
Five categories – construction, information, financial activities, other services and government – posted job declines over the year, down 55,600 jobs. The state said government posted the largest decline on both a numerical and percentage basis, down by 41,400 jobs, a decrease of 1.7 percent.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Local and state officials recently conducted an operation aimed at reducing underage drinking in the city.
The Lakeport Police Department and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control conducted a decoy “shoulder tap” program on the night of March 1, according to a Friday report.
The Decoy Shoulder Tap Program is an enforcement program that ABC and local law enforcement agencies use to detect and deter shoulder tap activity.
During this program, a minor decoy, under the direct supervision of law enforcement officers, solicits adults outside ABC licensed stores to buy the minor decoy alcohol.
The minor contacted 19 adult individuals at five different locations and solicited those adults to purchase them alcohol, according to the Lakeport Police Department.
Police said three adults were arrested and later released on a citation for purchasing the minor alcohol.
One of the arrests took place in the 2900 block of Lakeshore Boulevard in north Lakeport, and two arrests occurred in the 2600 block of S. Main St., also in Lakeport, police said.
The individuals arrested were Erma Holladay of Lakeport; Luis Bandillo of Hood River, Ore.; and Bartolo Valerio-Garcia of Walnut Creek, according to the report.
The Lakeport Police Department thanked the remaining 16 citizens who were contacted and refused
to purchase the minor decoy alcohol.
This project is part of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s Minor decoy/Shoulder Tap Grant Project, funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
On Saturday night, March 10, Californians will be turning their clocks forward in observance of Daylight Saving Time.
When they do, Cal Fire is reminding them to replace the batteries in all smoke alarms. Firefighters are also urging residents to replace the batteries in the carbon monoxide alarms as well.
This minimal effort could mean the difference between life and death.
Already this year several fatalities have occurred in California which might have been prevented with working smoke alarms.
“Cal Fire has long advocated the ‘Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery’ campaign,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, director of Cal Fire. “A smoke alarm is one of the cheapest and most effective ways homeowners can provide year round fire protection for themselves and their families.”
Every year lives are lost in homes without smoke detectors or those homes with a non-functioning smoke detector.
In a study conducted by the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), nearly 96 percent of households report having at least one fire alarm.
Yet the US Fire Administration reports residential fires make up nearly 83 percent of all civilian fire deaths. The culprit is generally a disconnected or dead battery.
Save a life. Change your clocks; change your smoke alarm batteries.
Fire officials also remind residents that smoke alarms should be replaced at least every ten years and when residents buy a new one, purchase an alarm with 10-year batteries
“Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms unquestionably help save lives, but they are nothing without working batteries inside of them,” said Chief Tonya Hoover, California’s state fire marshal. “Just a few minutes twice a year to change that battery can truly mean the difference between life and death."
For more information, visit the Cal Fire Web site at www.fire.ca.gov .