As California honored Indigenous Peoples’ Day for the third year in a row, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced a partnership between the California Truth & Healing Council and the Decolonizing Wealth Project to support philanthropic and community engagement, grantmaking and narrative change.
Through this partnership, the Office of the Tribal Advisor and the Truth & Healing Council will work directly with the Decolonizing Wealth Project — an organization that strives to promote community healing and narrative change through education, philanthropy and storytelling — to convene philanthropic ambassadors for the work of the Truth & Healing Council, develop a grantmaking program and galvanize philanthropy broadly to support the recommendations from the Council’s final report, among other activities.
“As we honor the perseverance, rich diversity and contributions of all Indigenous peoples today, California is advancing our commitment to collaborating with tribal communities throughout the state to make real the promise of a California for all,” said Gov. Newsom, who on Monday issued a proclamation declaring Indigenous Peoples’ Day. “This new partnership will expand the Administration’s efforts to engage Native American families in the important dialogue created by the Truth & Healing Council, helping to build bridges and begin healing deep wounds.”
The California Truth & Healing Council was established by the governor in 2019 to provide an avenue for California Native Americans to clarify the record — and provide their diverse experiences, histories and perspectives — on the troubled relationship between Native peoples and the State in the spirit of truth and healing.
The council is led and convened by the governor’s tribal advisor and includes representatives from California Native American tribes throughout the state.
The council officially launched in December 2020 and is slated to issue a final report on or before Janu. 1, 2025.
"The Truth & Healing Council is pleased to partner with Decolonizing Wealth Project on this difficult journey,” said Council Member Frankie Myers, who serves as vice chairman for the Yurok Tribe. “California Native peoples have not forgotten the true history of the State of California, and we hope that our reexamination of the historical record is the first of many steps towards restoring the balance between California indigenous people and the State. Through philanthropy, and the healing tools it will empower us to provide, we are excited to advocate for real change through reparative justice.”
With a goal to develop civic infrastructure within California’s Native American community, this partnership will also support the engagement of Native American families across the state to participate in the council’s meetings, talking circles, listening sessions, and other general activities.
The Decolonizing Wealth Project will leverage its expertise in community healing to ensure Native American families, and other participants involved, have access to culturally competent healing opportunities and other tools as they navigate this process.
Ultimately, this partnership aims to catalyze deeper community engagement in truth and healing conversations and build political will for truth and healing work in other states and at the national level.
“Decolonizing Wealth Project is excited to amplify the work of the Council and California’s Native American tribal leaders,” said Edgar Villanueva, principal of Decolonizing Wealth Project and a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. “By helping to raise awareness among Californians and the philanthropic community to advocate for truth and reconciliation, it is our hope that the reparative efforts being put forth by the Council will one day be replicated on a national level. Especially on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we as a nation can only get to a state of reconciliation when we are able to reflect on and acknowledge America’s history of oppression and erasure of Indigenous communities.”
Visit https://tribalaffairs.ca.gov/cthc/help/ to learn more about ways community members from both within and outside of California can support the council.
A map of areas in Lake County, California, expected to be included in a public safety power shut-off on Monday, October 11, 2021. Image courtesy of PG&E.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Due to an incoming windstorm across a large portion of its service area, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will move forward early Monday with shutting off power to about 25,000 customers in 23 counties.
PG&E said it expects to begin its public safety power shut-off, or PSPS, across parts of California as early as 4 a.m. Monday.
In Lake County, 4,008 PG&E customers — 304 of them in the Medical Baseline program — are set to be included, most of them in the south county or north of Clearlake Oaks.
The power is expected to go off in those areas in Lake County between 6 and 8 a.m. Monday, PG&E said.
Customers can look up their address at www.pge.com/pspsupdates to see if they are being included in the shut-off.
PG&E said it’s calling this PSPS due to a dry, offshore wind storm expected to start overnight and bring wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour by Monday morning, combined with extremely dry conditions.
Beginning on Monday morning, PG&E will open 24 community resource centers in 14 counties to offer charging of medical equipment and electronic devices, up-to-date information about the PSPS, and water, snacks and other essential items.
The centers will open at 8 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. for the remainder of the shut-off.
In Lake County, community resource centers are planned for the following locations:
— Live Oaks Senior Center, 12502 Foothill Blvd., Clearlake Oaks; — Little Red Schoolhouse, 15780 Bottle Rock Road, Cobb; — Hidden Valley Lake Association mailboxes, 18090 Hidden Valley Road, Hidden Valley Lake; and — Twin Pine Casino and Hotel, 22223 Highway 29, Middletown.
The company anticipates weather “all clears” will occur as early as Monday evening with restoration expected to begin Tuesday afternoon, with times varying based on individual locations.
After the all clear is called but before restoring power, PG&E said its electric crews will begin patrolling in the air, in vehicles and on foot to visually check de-energized lines for hazards or damage to make sure it is safe to restore power. Inspections must occur during daylight hours. Once hazards are found and repaired, power can be turned back on to customers.
PG&E said it will notify customers when the weather system has passed and will provide continuous updates on when to expect the power to turn back on.
In addition to Lake, the shut-off is expected to affect customers in these counties:
Alameda: 134 customers, 10 Medical Baseline customers Butte: 1,342 customers, 98 Medical Baseline customers Colusa: 566 customers, 39 Medical Baseline customers Contra Costa: 597 customers, 40 Medical Baseline customers Fresno: 189 customers, 6 Medical Baseline customers Glenn: 376 customers, 22 Medical Baseline customers Kern: 633 customers, 34 Medical Baseline customers Monterey: 854 customers, 27 Medical Baseline customers Napa: 2,441 customers, 113 Medical Baseline customers Plumas: 309 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers San Benito: 84 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers San Luis Obispo: 223 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers Santa Barbara: 27 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customer Shasta: 2,336 customers, 172 Medical Baseline customers Solano: 4,698 customers, 433 Medical Baseline customers Sonoma: 87 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer Stanislaus: 30 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers Tehama: 5,342 customers, 498 Medical Baseline customers Yolo: 515 customers, 16 Medical Baseline customers
The list above only includes counties with 25 or more customers impacted. There are three other counties with fewer than 25 customers impacted.
The following Tribal Communities are also expected to be impacted.
Cortina Rancheria: 8 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer Grindstone Rancheria: 50 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers Middletown Rancheria: 34 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer Mooretown Rancheria: 1 customer, 0 Medical Baseline customer Pit River Tribes: 8 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
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. — The campuses of Woodland Community College in Woodland, Lake County and Colusa County provide safe learning environments for students, according to the most recent crime statistics report provided by the Yuba Community College District Police Department in compliance with the federal Jeanne Clery Act.
In 2020 only one on-campus offense was reported, a burglary on the Lake County campus. One additional offense was reported off-campus on adjacent public property of the Woodland campus.
The 2020 statistics were lower than the 2019 report that indicated a total of four on-campus offenses and two off-campus offenses, officials said.
Looking back over the past eight Clery Act filings, the campuses of Woodland Community College have historically provided a safe environment for students, averaging just over one reportable offense per year on both the Woodland and Lake County campuses since 2013, and only one single offense on the Colusa County campus during that time period.
“It is reassuring to know that we are providing safe campus environments. The safety and welfare of students, faculty and staff is a top priority for the college, and while the 2020 statistics were impacted by COVID, looking back at the two previous years we have had few crime reports, almost exclusively nonviolent in nature,” said Woodland Community College President Art Pimentel.
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act or Clery Act, was signed into law in 1990.
It is a federal statute requiring colleges and universities to maintain and disclose Campus Crime Statistics along with disclosure of campus safety policies and timely warning requirements.
Annually, the Yuba Community College District Police Department gathers statistics on reportable crimes and reports the statistics to the Department of Education, the FBI and to the public.
The Jeanne Clery Act requires statistics to be reported from a geographic area that includes the campus as well as adjacent public property, and also requires reports of student disciplinary referrals in addition to arrests for drug, alcohol and weapon offenses.
Copies of the most recent Yuba Community College District Clery Act Reports are available online here.
Crime statistics and campus safety information is compiled based upon crime reports received by the Yuba Community College District Police Department, from crime statistics received from outside agencies and from incident reports received from other campus security authorities.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The city of Lakeport and Lakeport Disposal Co. Inc. will host a Community Cleanup Day for city residents on Saturday, Oct. 16.
It will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the public parking lot north of the Fifth Street boat ramp in downtown Lakeport.
This event is limited to city of Lakeport residents and those dropping off trash and waste will be required to provide photo identification and a copy of a city utility bill.
Participants are required to follow the following COVID-19 safety protocols:
• Cloth face masks must be worn. • One person per vehicle. • Stay in vehicle while Lakeport Disposal staff unloads materials • Two visits maximum per each address.
Household trash, televisions, specified appliances, electronic waste, mattresses, household furniture, unusable clothes/blankets/towels and similar materials will be accepted.
Items that will not be accepted are refrigerators, hot tubs/spas, construction debris, used tires and household hazardous waste.
For more details, please see the city’s website, its Facebook page or contact Lakeport Disposal at 707-263-6080.
Mark S Roberts, University of Pittsburgh and Richard K Zimmerman, University of Pittsburgh
As winter looms and hospitals across the U.S. continue to be deluged with severe cases of COVID-19, flu season presents a particularly ominous threat this year.
Our recent modeling work suggests that last year’s tamped-down influenza season could lead to a surge in flu cases this coming season.
Anti-COVID-19 strategies reduced flu too
As a result of the numerous measures put in place in 2020 to curb transmission of COVID-19 – including limiting travel, wearing masks, social distancing, closing schools and other strategies – the U.S. saw a dramatic decrease in influenza and other infectious diseases during the last flu season.
Flu-related deaths in kids dropped from nearly 200 in the 2019-2020 season to one in the 2020-2021 season. Overall, the 2020-2021 flu season had one of the lowest recorded number of cases in recent U.S. history.
While flu reduction is a good thing, it could mean that the flu will hit harder than normal this winter. This is because much of the natural immunity that people develop to disease comes from the spread of that disease through a population. Many other respiratory viruses demonstrated a similar drop during the pandemic, and some of those, including interseasonal respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, have increased dramatically as schools have reopened and social distancing, masking and other measures have declined.
The level of a person’s existing immunity to the current year’s strain of flu depends on several variables. They include how similar the current strain is to the one that a child was first exposed to, whether circulating strains are similar to previously experienced strains and how recent those influenza infections were, if they occurred.
And of course human interactions, such as children crowding together in classrooms or people attending large gatherings – as well as the use of protective measures like wearing a mask – all affect whether a virus is transmitted between people.
There are also variables due to vaccination. Population immunity from vaccination depends on the proportion of people who get the flu vaccine in a given season and how effective - or well matched - that vaccine is against the circulating influenza strains.
Health care workers treat a 45-year-old unvaccinated COVID-19 patient at a medical center in Tarzana, Calif. The ongoing pandemic, coupled with the looming flu season, could trigger what doctors call a ‘twindemic.’APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images
No precedent exists for a ‘twindemic’
Given the limited spread of influenza in the general U.S. population last year, our research suggests that the U.S. could see a large epidemic of flu this season. Paired with the existing threat of the highly infectious delta variant, this could result in a dangerous combination of infectious diseases, or a “twindemic.”
Models of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases have been at the forefront of predictions about the COVID-19 pandemic, and have often proved to be predictive of cases, hospitalizations and death.
But there are no historical examples of this type of dual and simultaneous epidemics. As a result, traditional epidemiological and statistical methods are not well suited to project what may occur this season. Therefore, models that incorporate the mechanisms of how a virus spreads are better able to make predictions.
We used two separate methods to forecast the potential impact from last year’s decrease in influenza cases on the current 2021-2022 flu season.
In recent research of ours that has not yet been peer-reviewed, we applied a modeling system that simulates an actual population’s interactions at home and work, and in school and neighborhood settings. This model predicts that the U.S. could see a big spike in flu cases this season.
In another preliminary study, we used a traditional infectious disease modeling tool that divides the population into people who are susceptible to infection, those infected, those recovered and those who have been hospitalized or have died. Based on our mathematical model, we predict that the U.S. could see as many as 102,000 additional hospitalizations above the hundreds of thousands that typically occur during flu season. Those numbers assume that there is no change from the usual flu vaccine uptake and effectiveness starting this fall and lasting through the flu season.
Individual behaviors and vaccination matter
A typical flu season usually produces 30 million to 40 million cases of symptomatic disease, between 400,000 and 800,000 hospitalizations and from 20,000 to 50,000 deaths.
Our research also highlighted how young children could be particularly at risk since they have lower exposure to previous seasons of influenza and thus haven’t yet developed broad immunity, compared with adults. In addition to the burden on children, childhood influenza is an important driver of influenza in the elderly as kids pass it on to grandparents and other elderly people.
However, there is reason for optimism, since people’s behaviors can change these outcomes considerably.
For instance, our simulation study incorporated people of all ages and found that increasing vaccination among children has the potential to cut infections in children by half. And we found that if only 25% more people than usual are vaccinated against influenza this year, that would be sufficient to reduce the infection rate to normal seasonal influenza levels.
Across the U.S., there is a lot of variability in vaccination rates, adherence to social distancing recommendations and mask-wearing. So it is likely that the flu season will experience substantial variation state to state, just as we have seen with patterns of COVID-19 infection.
All of this data suggests that although vaccination against influenza is important every year, it is of utmost importance this year to prevent a dramatic rise in influenza cases and to keep U.S. hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.
Tacos originated in Mexico and have become a popular food in the United States, as well as around the world. These grilled tilapia tacos from Rosales Market in Middletown, Calif. are topped with tomatoes, romaine lettuce, red onions, radishes, and pickled jalapeño peppers. They're accompanied by grilled onions, lime wedges and pico de gallo. Photo by Esther Oertel. National Taco Day was celebrated on Oct. 4 and may be in our rearview mirror, but it’s never a bad day to have tacos, even if it’s not Tuesday.
I think most Americans agree with me, since we consume billions of them each year.
But how has such a seemingly simple food become so beloved, not just in Mexico, where it originated, or the U.S., where it was first imported, but around the world?
Perhaps it’s because these scrumptious packets of goodness can be filled with so many things — all kinds of meat, beans of all types, or even with vegetables like mushrooms or sweet potatoes as the star.
Aaron Sanchez, chef and television personality, has said, “Tacos are one of those dishes that are so iconic yet have such a large range of techniques and ingredients from region to region. Even just the difference between flour and corn tortillas is important. The main components to any taco are a tortilla, a filling, and a salsa. The varieties are virtually endless.”
You might say the secret to a good taco lies in getting those three components right. Perhaps tacos aren’t so simple after all.
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact origin of the taco, and conflicting theories as to their provenance exist.
History professor and author Jeffrey Pilcher has spent 20 years investigating the origins of Mexican food. His theory is that tacos originated with 18th century silver miners in Mexico.
The explosive charges used by these miners to excavate ore — small pieces of paper wrapped around gunpowder and tucked in holes to explode in the rock wall — were called tacos.
His theory gains traction when we learn that tacos were described as “tacos de minero,” or miner’s tacos, in the first reference to tacos as a food in an archive or dictionary a century later.
If this origin story is true, then culinarily speaking, tacos are a relatively recent addition to the food spectrum.
In contrast to Pilcher’s theory, others say tacos are much older than that, going back to when the Aztecs used corn tortillas as a sort of spoon to scoop up fillings like fish or offal (organ meats). This would put their origin somewhere between 500 to 1,000 B.C.
In addition, it’s possible that the word taco is not derived from explosive mine charges, but rather a Nahuatl, or Aztec language, word. “Tlahco” in that tongue means “half” or “in the middle,” and is perhaps a reference to the way tacos were formed.
According to Gustavo Arellano, who wrote “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America,” tacos have existed since there was a tortilla, even if they didn’t exist by that name.
“The earliest mention of taco as a food dates only to the late 19th century,” he says. “Previously, the word stood for anything from a pool cue to a hammer to getting drunk.”
Or, apparently, an explosive in a silver mine.
Thankfully, this paradox of the taco’s origin doesn’t diminish their deliciousness.
The first mention of the taco in the U.S. was in a 1905 newspaper. This was a time when immigrants from Mexico were beginning to come to the U.S. for work in mines, railroads and other similar jobs, and they brought their food traditions with them.
Mexican food in those days was often sold in pushcarts on the street, and since tacos were highly portable and cheap, they were a popular option.
Tacos started to become a more mainstream food when the children of immigrants rose in economic status. Mexican American tacos often were adapted to what was available in the American market — ground beef or chicken instead of offal, cheddar cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and the like.
The first taco truck in the U.S. (and quite possibly the first food truck of any type) is believed to have been opened by Raul Martinez, a Mexican immigrant, who repurposed an old ice cream truck in 1974.
He parked his mobile taco eatery outside an East Los Angeles bar and was so successful that within six months he was able to leave the truck behind and open a restaurant. The restaurant, King Taco, now has 22 locations in California.
At the same time that Mexican immigrants were arriving in the U.S. early in the last century, Mexico was having an influx of immigrants, and their food traditions had an influence on what fills a taco.
For example, Lebanese migrants brought shawarma or gyro with them — lamb cooked on vertical spits served in pita bread. When they began to put the meat into tortillas, “tacos arabes,” or Arab tacos, were born.
Second-generation Lebanese immigrants changed the recipe a bit, using pork instead of lamb and serving it with pineapple. Tacos al pastor, which is pork sliced thin and served in a taco with pineapple, onion, and cilantro, is an adaptation of this Lebanese fare and is now considered a standard Mexican taco.
Glen Bell, the founder of Taco Bell, capitalized on the popularity of the taco. He originally owned a few hamburger joints but noticed how popular Mexican food was with non-Mexicans. He opened the first Taco Bell in 1962.
In his autobiography, Bell claimed he invented the hard-shell taco in the 1950s, which allowed for selling tacos in a fast-food style.
The “taco shell” could be made ahead of time in large quantities to store until they were needed, streamlining operations, in contrast to tacos that were made to order in Mexican restaurants with tortillas made fresh.
Despite Bell’s claims, the U.S. patent office shows records of patents for hard-shell tacos granted to Mexican restaurants in the 1940s, not to Bell. Also, Mexican cookbooks from the 1940s offered recipes for making them.
Tacos made with hard shells are known as “tacos dorado” in Mexican cooking. It’s unclear when the hard shells were first used, but it was at least a decade before Bell claimed to have invented them.
Tacos have become quite popular throughout the world. In Norway, for example, a communal make-your-own-taco night is celebrated each week. Instead of Taco Tuesday, Norwegians celebrate “Fredagstaco,” which takes place on Fridays.
Nearly 10% of the population of Norway participates in this food ritual.
There are endless variations on the taco. Middletown Pomo elder Millie Simon recalls eating fry bread filled with beans or meat while growing up. These are now known as Indian tacos.
I fell in love with fish tacos when introduced to them by my brother-in-law, a chef. Though I rarely eat meat, I’m still a huge fish taco fan and I enjoy sampling them in various locations.
Fish tacos also have dueling origin stories.
The city of Ensenada, Mexico is situated on the Pacific coastline in Baja California about 78 miles south of San Diego. In addition to being known for Mexican wine and American tourism, the city claims that it was the birthplace of the fish taco. They point to the sale of fish tacos in Ensenada’s fish market, the Mercado Negro, as early as 1958. Many Ensenada restaurants advertise that they were the first to create the fish taco.
Perhaps fish tacos were first commercialized there, but their origin likely goes back thousands of years, at least as long as the Indigenous peoples of coastal Mexico have wrapped their ocean catch in a tortilla.
It was Ralph Rubio who popularized fish tacos in the U.S. He tasted them on a spring break trip to Baja California, where, as the story goes, he coaxed a Baja vendor into giving him his recipe for the tacos.
Rubio later established a restaurant in San Diego known as Rubios — Home of the Fish Taco, which later became the Rubio’s Coastal Grill chain.
It’s interesting to note that tacos are typically a morning treat or a nighttime snack in their country of origin. They’re less available between noon and 6 p.m. in Mexico, likely because the main meal there is eaten in the afternoon.
Aren’t we lucky that we can eat tacos here all day long?
Today’s recipe is for mushroom tacos, an option that’s gaining in popularity. Rest assured that these tacos aren’t just for vegetarians, especially if you’re a fungi fan.
While there are many variations on mushroom tacos, the portobellos in this recipe provide a meaty texture and a wonderful burst of umami flavor.
Marinated mushroom tacos with pineapple salsa and lime guacamole
For tacos:
6 portobello mushroom caps, halved ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil ½ cup orange juice 4 garlic cloves, crushed 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 teaspoon smoked paprika Juice of two limes ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped Salt to taste Warmed corn tortillas
For pineapple salsa:
½ small pineapple, diced 1 small jalapeño with seeds and pith removed, chopped Juice of one lime ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped Salt to taste
For guacamole:
2 avocados, peeled, seeded, and mashed Juice and zest of one lime Salt to taste
Procedure:
Marinate mushrooms with olive oil, orange juice, garlic, chili powder, paprika, lime juice, cilantro and a pinch of salt to taste. A zipper-sealed bag works well for this. Marinate 10 minutes or as long as overnight in the fridge.
In a bowl, stir together the mashed avocado, lime juice and zest, and salt to taste.
Mix all salsa ingredients together in a separate bowl.
Preheat a grill or grill pan to high. Remove the mushrooms from the marinade and sear for five minutes on each side, or until slightly charred on both sides. Remove from heat and slice into strips.
Spread the guacamole on the warmed tortillas and top with the grilled mushrooms and pineapple salsa.
Enjoy!
Recipe adapted by Esther Oertel.
Esther Oertel is a writer and passionate home cook from a family of chefs. She grew up in a restaurant, where she began creating recipes from a young age. She’s taught culinary classes in a variety of venues in Lake County and previously wrote “The Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News. Most recently she’s taught culinary classes at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa. She lives in Middletown, California.
State Sen. Mike McGuire’s bill SB 98, which advances some of the toughest press freedom protections in the nation, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday.
SB 98 has been one of the most critical bills focused on First Amendment protections moving forward in any state legislature.
The new law’s provisions will extend crucial protections to members of the press as they enter and report on events protected by the First Amendment.
Freedom of the press is foundational to the United States. It strengthens the nation’s democracy by providing transparency, keeping a check on government and informing citizens’ everyday decisions.
But McGuire — whose district includes Lake County — said this freedom is under assault here in the United States.
“There’s no doubt about it, California now has some of the toughest protections in place for journalists compared to any other state in America. We have seen a surge in egregious acts of violence and obstruction made against members of the press across the country and right here at home in the Golden State,” McGuire said. “This law will provide critical protections for the press as they attend and report on First Amendment events like protests, marches, rallies, and demonstrations.”
He added, “California is leading the way to ensure the freedom of the press and the First Amendment are protected and held to the highest standard. I’m grateful to Gov. Newsom for his signature and to the hundreds of journalists and Guild Members who mobilized across the state along with the California News Publishers Association and the California Broadcasters Association, to ensure SB 98’s success.”
In 2020, over 600 reported acts of aggression against reporters took place. Rubber bullets, tear gas, and even detainment cannot become the new norm for journalists.
McGuire said California must lead the way to protect and uphold the right of the press and the First Amendment.
Currently, California law allows reporters and other members of the press to enter natural disaster emergency areas behind closed law enforcement lines — such as areas impacted by fires, floods, and earthquakes — in order to gather information to relay to the public. They can also go out during curfews at times of natural disasters.
Until now, these critical protections, however, did not expressly extend to First Amendment events such as protests and marches.
SB 98 prohibits law enforcement officers from obstructing, detaining, assaulting, or otherwise preventing the press from fulfilling their constitutional mandate in reporting on these events.
Additionally, the bill mandates that reporters can challenge their detainment or lack of access by working with law enforcement management on scene. This provides a necessary safety net to reporters who are not granted access or intentionally detained or mistakenly detained.
Recent police action demonstrates that these statutory protections are critical to ensure our democratic system has access to newsworthy information to inform the discussion on the crucial issues that California and the nation face.
Columbus Day celebrations in the United States – meant to honor the legacy of the man credited with “discovering” the New World – are almost as old as the nation itself. The earliest known Columbus Day celebration took place on Oct. 12, 1792, on the 300th anniversary of his landing. But since the 1990s, a growing number of states have begun to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day – a holiday meant to honor the culture and history of the people living in the Americas both before and after Columbus’ arrival.
In the following Q&A, Susan C. Faircloth, an enrolled member of the Coharie Tribe of North Carolina and professor of education at Colorado State University, explains the history of Indigenous Peoples Day and what it means to American education.
More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia now recognize Indigenous Peoples Day. Those states include Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.
How does Indigenous Peoples Day change things?
Indigenous Peoples Day offers an opportunity for educators to rethink how they teach what some have characterized as a “sanitized” story of the arrival of Columbus. This version omits or downplays the devastating impact of Columbus’ arrival on Indigenous peoples. Indigenous Peoples Day is an opportunity to reconcile tensions between these two perspectives.
Yes, the shift from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day has met resistance from communities across the country. In 2021, parents in Parsippany, New Jersey, protested the local school board’s decision to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in place of Columbus Day. Among other things, they cited lack of community input, failure to honor the legacy of Italian immigrants and the need for a “more balanced picture of Columbus.” In response, the school board removed the names of all holidays from its calendar. Now the holidays are just referred to as “days off.”
What resources do you recommend for Indigenous Peoples Day?
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has more new dogs and puppies waiting to be adopted this week.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of American bulldog, beagle, Belgian malinois, Doberman, German shepherd, husky, pit bull, pug, Rottweiler, shepherd and terrier.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control website not listed are still “on hold”).
This 1-year-old female German shepherd is in kennel No. 4, ID No. LCAC-A-1767. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female German shepherd
This 1-year-old female German shepherd has a short tan and black coat.
She is in kennel No. 4, ID No. LCAC-A-1767.
“Ace” is a 1-year-old male shepherd and Doberman mix in kennel No. 6, ID No. LCAC-A-1731. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Ace’
“Ace” is a 1-year-old male shepherd and Doberman mix with a short black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 6, ID No. LCAC-A-1731.
This female shepherd-husky is in kennel No. 9, ID No. LCAC-A-1745. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female shepherd-husky
This female shepherd-husky has a short tan coat with black markings and blue eyes.
She is in kennel No. 9, ID No. LCAC-A-1745.
This 1-year-old female shepherd-husky mix is in kennel No. 10, ID No. LCAC-A-1746. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female shepherd-husky
This 1-year-old female shepherd-husky mix has a short tricolor coat and blue eyes.
She’s in kennel No. 10, ID No. LCAC-A-1746.
This 6-month-old male Belgian malinois puppy is in kennel No. 15, ID No. LCAC-A-1710. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Belgian malinois puppy
This 6-month-old male Belgian malinois puppy has a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 15, ID No. LCAC-A-1710.
This 6-month-old male Belgian malinois puppy is in kennel No. 16, ID No. LCAC-A-1711. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Belgian malinois puppy
This 6-month-old male Belgian malinois puppy has a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 16, ID No. LCAC-A-1711.
“Rocky” is a 1-year-old female German shepherd mix in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-1719. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Rocky’
“Rocky” is a 1-year-old female German shepherd mix with a short black coat and tan markings.
She is in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-1719.
This 2-year-old female German shepherd mix is in kennel No. 20, ID No. LCAC-A-1660. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female German shepherd mix
This 2-year-old female German shepherd mix has a short black and tan coat.
She’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. LCAC-A-1660.
“Oscar” is a 6-year-old pug-beagle mix in kennel No. 21, ID No. LCAC-A-1709. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Oscar’
“Oscar” is a 6-year-old pug-beagle mix — or a puggle — with a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 21, ID No. LCAC-A-1709.
“LuLu” is a 1-year-old female Rottweiler in kennel No. 27, ID No. LCAC-A-1658. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘LuLu’
“LuLu” is a 1-year-old female Rottweiler with a short black and tan coat.
She is in kennel No. 27, ID No. LCAC-A-1658.
This 2-year-old male shepherd mix is in kennel No. 28, ID No. LCAC-A-1743. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male shepherd mix
This 2-year-old male shepherd mix has a short black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 28, ID No. LCAC-A-1743.
This young male pit bull is in kennel No. 29, ID No. LCAC-A-1699. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male pit bull
This young male pit bull has a short black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 29, ID No. LCAC-A-1699.
This 2-year-old female terrier mix is in kennel No. 30, ID No. LCAC-A-1739. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female terrier mix
This 2-year-old female terrier mix has a short tan coat.
She is in kennel No. 30, ID No. LCAC-A-1739.
This 1-year-old female pit bull mix is in kennel No. 31, ID No. LCAC-A-1683. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female pit bull
This 1-year-old female pit bull mix has a short gray coat with white markings.
She is in kennel No. 31, ID No. LCAC-A-1683.
“Dozer” is a 5-year-old American pit bull terrier mix in kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-1483. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Dozer’
‘Dozer’ is a 5-year-old American pit bull terrier mix with a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-1483.
“Milo” is a 3-year-old male American bulldog-pit bull mix in kennel No. 34, ID No. LCAC-A-1657. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Milo’
“Milo” is a 3-year-old male American bulldog-pit bull mix with a short white coat.
He is in kennel No. 34, ID No. LCAC-A-1657.
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.
This illustration shows a Jupiter-like planet alone in the dark of space, floating freely without a parent star. CLEoPATRA mission scientists hope to improve the mass estimates of such planets discovered through microlensing. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab. Exoplanet hunters have found thousands of planets, most orbiting close to their host stars, but relatively few alien worlds have been detected that float freely through the galaxy as so-called rogue planets, not bound to any star.
Many astronomers believe that these planets are more common than we know, but that our planet-finding techniques haven’t been up to the task of locating them.
Most exoplanets discovered to date were found because they produce slight dips in the observed light of their host stars as they pass across the star’s disk from our viewpoint. These events are called transits.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will conduct a survey to discover many more exoplanets using powerful techniques available to a wide-field telescope. The stars in our Milky Way galaxy move, and chance alignments can help us find rogue planets. When a free-floating planet aligns precisely with a distant star, this can cause the star to brighten. During such events, the planet’s gravity acts as a lens that briefly magnifies the background star’s light. While Roman may find rogue planets through this technique, called gravitational microlensing, there’s one drawback – the distance to the lensing planet is poorly known.
Goddard scientist Dr. Richard K. Barry is developing a mission concept called the Contemporaneous LEnsing Parallax and Autonomous TRansient Assay, or CLEoPATRA, to exploit parallax effects to calculate these distances.
Parallax is the apparent shift in the position of a foreground object as seen by observers in slightly different locations. Our brains exploit the slightly different views of our eyes so we can see depth as well.
Astronomers in the 19th century first established the distances to nearby stars using the same effect, measuring how their positions shifted relative to background stars in photographs taken when Earth was on opposite sides of its orbit.
It works a little differently with microlensing, where the apparent alignment of the planet and distant background star greatly depends on the observer’s position. In this case, two well-separated observers, each equipped with a precise clock, would witness the same microlensing event at slightly different times. The time delay between the two detections allows scientists to determine the planet’s distance.
To maximize the parallax effect, CLEoPATRA would hitch a ride on a Mars-bound mission that launches around the same time as Roman, currently scheduled for late 2025. That would place it in its own orbit around the Sun that would achieve a sufficient distance from Earth to effectively measure the microlensing parallax signal and fill in this missing information.
The CLEoPATRA concept would also support the PRime-focus Infrared Microlensing Experiment (PRIME), a ground-based telescope currently being outfitted with a camera using four detectors developed by the Roman mission. Mass estimates for microlensing planets detected by both Roman and PRIME will be significantly improved by simultaneous parallax observations provided by CLEoPATRA.
“CLEoPATRA would be at a great distance from the principal observatory, either Roman or a telescope on Earth,” Barry said. “The parallax signal should then permit us to calculate quite precise masses for these objects, thereby increasing scientific return.”
Stela Ishitani Silva, a research assistant at Goddard and Ph.D. student at the Catholic University of America in Washington, said understanding these free-floating planets will help fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge of how planets form.
“We want to find multiple free-floating planets and try to obtain information about their masses, so we can understand what is common or not common at all,” Ishitani Silva said. “Obtaining the mass is important to understanding their planetary development.”
In order to efficiently find these planets, CLEoPATRA, which completed a Mission Planning Laboratory study at Wallops Flight Facility in early August, will use artificial intelligence. Dr. Greg Olmschenk, a postdoctoral researcher working with Barry, has developed an AI called RApid Machine learnEd Triage, or RAMjET, for the mission.
“I work with certain kinds of artificial intelligence called neural networks,” Olmschenk said. “It's a type of artificial intelligence that will learn through examples. So, you give it a bunch of examples of the thing you want to find, and the thing you want it to filter out, and then it will learn how to recognize patterns in that data to try to find the things that you want to keep and the things you want to throw away.”
Eventually, the AI learns what it needs to identify and will only send back important information. In filtering this information, RAMjET will help CLEoPATRA overcome an extremely limited data transmission rate.
CLEoPATRA will have to watch millions of stars every hour or so, and there’s no way to send all that data to Earth. Therefore, the spacecraft will have to analyze the data on-board and send back only the measurements for sources it detects to be microlensing events.
“CLEoPATRA will permit us to estimate many high-precision masses for new planets detected by Roman and PRIME,” Barry said. “And it may allow us to capture or estimate the actual mass of a free-floating planet for the first time — never been done before. So cool, and so exciting. Really, it's a new golden age for astronomy right now, and I'm just very excited about it.”
Julie Freijat works for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said it may conduct another public safety power shut-off beginning Monday morning due to a weather system that could bring dry, gusty offshore winds to portions of the northern, central and southern regions of the company’s service area.
Those winds, combined with the exceptional drought and extremely dry vegetation, caused PG&E on Saturday to begin sending two-day advance notifications to approximately 44,000 customers in targeted portions of 32 counties and seven tribes where it may implement the public safety power shut-off, or PSPS, to reduce the risk of wildfire from energized power lines.
Included in those initial notifications were 4,094 customers in Lake County, including 307 Medical Baseline customers, PG&E said.
The PG&E map of the planned outage showed areas that could be impacted in Lake County are some small pockets north and east of Clearlake Oaks, in and around Hidden Valley Lake, Cobb and Middletown.
As of Saturday night, a fire weather watch remained in effect for Lake County for Monday and Tuesday.
The potential shut-offs could begin Monday morning in portions of the North Valley, Sacramento and San Joaquin Foothills, PG&E said.
The company reported that potential shut-offs for the Northern Sierra Foothills, North Bay, North Coast regions, Bay Area hills and the Central Valley could begin Monday evening, depending on the timing of the windstorm.
Customers can also look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shut-off at www.pge.com/pspsupdates.
While there is the potential for rain, PG&E said it moved forward with notifying customers of the possible PSPS in case rain doesn’t materialize or forecast wind speeds still pose a wildfire risk.
PG&E also activated its Emergency Operations Center on Friday to support this weather event.
In addition to Lake, the potentially affected counties are:
Alameda: 134 customers, 10 Medical Baseline customers Butte: 769 customers, 69 Medical Baseline customers Calaveras: 2,536 customers, 188 Medical Baseline Colusa: 566 customers, 39 Medical Baseline customers Contra Costa: 601 customers, 40 Medical Baseline customers El Dorado: 303 customers, 20 Medical Baseline customers Fresno: 5,008 customers, 436 Medical Baseline customers Glenn: 377 customers, 22 Medical Baseline customers Kern: 7 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers Kings: 10 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers Madera: 2,884 customers, 225 Medical Baseline customers Mariposa: 778 customers, 73 Medical Baseline customers Merced: 20 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers Monterey: 845 customers, 27 Medical Baseline customers Napa: 2,207 customers, 107 Medical Baseline customers Nevada: 3 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers Placer: 5,975 customers, 388 Medical Baseline customers Plumas: 309 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers San Benito: 84 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers San Joaquin: 2 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers San Luis Obispo: 205 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers Santa Barbara:19 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer Shasta: 2,557 customers, 197 Medical Baseline customers Sierra: 2 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers Solano: 4,559 customers, 423 Medical Baseline customers Sonoma: 87 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer Stanislaus: 145 customers, 5 Medical Baseline customers Tehama: 6,148 customers, 624 Medical Baseline customers Tuolumne: 673 customers, 68 Medical Baseline customers Yolo: 515 customers, 16 Medical Baseline customers Yuba: 1,226 customers, 114 Medical Baseline customers
Tribal areas that may be affected:
Big Sandy Rancheria: 61 customers Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians: 54 customers Cortina Rancheria: 8 customers Grindstone Rancheria: 50 customers North Fork Rancheria: 25 customers Pit River Tribes: 8 customers United Auburn Indian Community: 1 customer
During a PSPS, PG&E offers support to customers by opening Community Resource Centers with snacks, water and other essential items, partnering with community-based organizations to assist customers with medical and independent living needs, and continuing to update our customers on power restoration status.
In Lake County, the Community Resource Centers slated to be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. during the outage are as follows:
— Live Oaks Senior Center, 12502 Foothill Blvd., Clearlake Oaks; — Little Red Schoolhouse, 15780 Bottlerock Road, Cobb; — Hidden Valley Lake Association mailboxes, 18090 Hidden Valley Road, Hidden Valley Lake; and — Twin Pine Casino and Hotel, 22223 Highway 29, Middletown.
Clear Lake at the Wright Ranch in Lake County, California. Courtesy photo. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — When the Lake County Land Trust, or LCLT, developed a set of long term priorities for future acquisitions and conservation easements nearly 15 years ago, preservation of the wetlands along the western Clear Lake shoreline from Clear Lake State Park to south Lakeport in what came to be called the Big Valley Wetlands project came out at the top of the list.
Over the years Clear Lake has lost about 80% of its natural shoreline to development.
The tules, willows, cattails, native shrubs and other riparian vegetation along the edge of the lake provided prime habitat for birds and mammals and the tule marshes supported native and nonnative fish, including crucial juvenile rearing grounds for the endangered Clear Lake Hitch.
Loss of this key habitat has had significant adverse consequences for numerous species, and loss of the natural filtration provided by wetlands has played a major role in the degradation of water quality.
The largest wetland areas remaining on the lake are Anderson Marsh State Historic Park in the south, Rodman Slough to the north and the Big Valley Shoreline.
Unlike Anderson Marsh and Rodman, most of the Big Valley area is privately held, putting its outstanding natural values at risk.
The Land Trust therefore decided to target the lands in this area as its top priority.
In the words of LCLT founder and board member Roberta Lyons, “Our objective is to preserve and restore these lands either through fee title purchase or conservation easements with the purpose of improving this vital habitat for animals and providing recreation opportunities for residents and visitors alike.”
The purchase of the 200-acre Wright Ranch near south Lakeport in 2020 was a major step forward in implementing this objective.
Besides preserving the land from future development in perpetuity, goals include restoration of a significant portion of the property to the wetland habitat that existed before berms and dikes were constructed in the 1940s to “reclaim” it for grazing.
UC McLaughlin Reserve Co-Manager Paul Aigner. Courtesy photo. The plan is to breach the berm in order to create an additional 32 acres of seasonal wetland and to restore the population of Valley Oaks beyond the remnant grove that exists there now: these huge trees provide habitat for many species of invertebrates, birds and mammals while sequestering immense amounts of carbon.
These major restoration projects will require review under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, and permits from federal, state, and county agencies, starting with a wetland delineation and botanical survey to be conducted by biologist Steve Zalusky.
To augment this professional analysis, Land Trust Board member Merry Jo Velasquez has also recruited volunteers from among Land Trust members, Lake County Master Gardeners, the California Native Plant Society and others to survey the property and catalog its populations of both native and nonnative plants.
Although at first glance the latter seem to predominate by a wide margin, which is not surprising on land that has been heavily grazed for many years, a number of native species also persist on the property.
The first group of volunteers went out to the property on a sunny Saturday in April. After a crash course in the National Geographic Society’s iNaturalist App provided by UC McLaughlin Reserve Co-Managers Paul Aigner and Cathy Koehler, several dozen participants broke up into small groups and fanned out over the land, taking pictures and uploading them to an ever-increasing database.
According to Velasquez, “using iNaturalist as our main resource for identification has been an interesting and rewarding experience. I was intrigued by the common name of the flower Erodium circutarium, which is called Stork’s Bill even though this round pink flower looks nothing like the bill of a stork. A month later, after seed pods had formed, I discovered that Stork’s Bill perfectly describes them.”
Eventually the Land Trust hopes to be able to open the property for public use and enjoyment, but before this can happen a baseline management plan must be developed, trails delineated, and signage installed.
In the meantime, occasional field trips are being scheduled: to see this property before its transformation begins, contact Roberta Lyons at 707 994 2024 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Victoria Brandon is a board member for the nonprofit Tuleyome, based in Woodland, California.
A group of volunteers met at the 200-acre Wright Ranch near south Lakeport, California, in April 2021. Courtesy photo.
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