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- Written by: Lake County News reports
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom swore in San Diego Assemblymember and Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus Dr. Shirley N. Weber as California secretary of state.
Dr. Weber is California’s first Black secretary of state.
“On the eve of Black History Month, California once again makes history in swearing in Dr. Weber as secretary of state,” said Gov. Newsom. “As the state’s chief elections officer, Dr. Weber will continue her lifelong dedication to defending civil rights and will undertake a vital role in protecting our democratic process at a critical time.”
Confirmed by the Legislature this week, Dr. Weber was nominated by Gov. Newsom earlier this month to fill the secretary of state position vacated by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, whom he appointed following the resignation of Vice President Kamala Harris from the U.S. Senate.
“The fact that each citizen is a primary officeholder in a democracy is the lodestone tenet of our system of government. It is my responsibility as secretary of state to ensure that more Californians are able to exercise that power through the electoral process, and that our elections remain secure, accessible and fair even under the most adverse conditions,” said Secretary of State Dr. Weber.
“Dr. King teaches us that we are at our best when we stand up in service of others and I am humbled to be able to continue to stand up for Californians as secretary of state. I thank the governor for his nomination, the state senators and Assembly members who confirmed my appointment, and the Californians who expressed their faith in my ability to assume this critical office. I look forward to lifting up and defending our democratic values of inclusivity and participation in this new role,” Dr. Weber said.
First elected to the California State Assembly in 2012, Dr. Weber has been a voice of moral clarity in the Legislature, providing leadership on issues of social justice.
She authored the California Act to Save Lives, landmark legislation signed by Gov. Newsom in 2019 setting new, higher standards on the use of deadly force by police.
Her ambitious legislative agenda has also included bills on education, civil rights, public safety, food insecurity, protections for persons with disabilities and voting rights.
She previously served as president of the San Diego Board of Education and as an Africana Studies Department professor at San Diego State University for 40 years.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday issued a proclamation declaring Jan. 30 as Fred Korematsu Day in California, in honor of the man who challenged the U.S. policy of interning Japanese-American citizens during World War II.
The proclamation hails the Oakland-born Fred Korematsu as a civil rights hero who made a bold decision at age 23 to challenge the policy of Japanese internment.
In 2010, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill establishing Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution in perpetuity, the first statewide day named for an Asian American in U.S. history, according to the Fred Korematsu Institute.
The day is marked every Jan. 30, Korematsu’s birthday.
He died in March 2005 at age 86. This year marks the 102nd anniversary of his birth.
Korematsu, who worked as a welder, refused to abide by Executive Order 9066, the federal government’s demand that Japanese Americans report to incarceration camps.
Korematsu’s act of protest led to his arrest and conviction, which he fought all the way to the Supreme Court.
The highest court in the land would rule against him, arguing that the incarceration of Japanese Americans was justifiable based on military necessity.
Forty years later, a federal court overturned Korematsu’s criminal conviction.
In that ruling, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel said, “a grave injustice was done to American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who, without individual review or any probative evidence against them, were excluded, removed and detained by the United States during World War II.”
“Over the course of his life, Korematsu fought for the civil liberties of others. He was tireless in his work to ensure Americans understood the lessons learned from one of the dark chapters of our history,” the governor’s proclamation said.
In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded Korematsu the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“The Supreme Court’s decision in Korematsu v. United States still hangs over this country after 77 years,” the governor’s proclamation stated. “Korematsu’s legacy reminds us that we must continue to strike out against injustice in our daily lives. Especially in a moment of increased Anti-Asian sentiment and xenophobia, each and every one of us must continue his fight for a more equal tomorrow.”
Learn more about Fred Korematsu here.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Thursday, a Spring Valley man was taken into custody after he was found in possession of drugs and an assault rifle.
Shannon Lee Henson, 42, was arrested early on Thursday, according to Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
At 2:15 a.m. Thursday a sheriff’s deputy who was patrolling in the Nice area on Highway 20 conducted a traffic stop on a gray Dodge Charger for vehicle infractions, Paulich said.
The vehicle was occupied by four individuals, one of them being Henson, according to Paulich.
Paulich said a records check showed Henson was on post release community supervision and that the Charger was registered to him.
Deputies conducted a search of the vehicle, locating a syringe containing a clear substance and a clear plastic bag containing approximately 3.8 grams of suspected methamphetamine in the door compartment near where Henson had been seated, Paulich said.
In the trunk of the vehicle, Paulich said deputies located another syringe containing a clear substance and an assault rifle that had been disassembled. Along with the rifle deputies located a high capacity magazine containing 35 rounds.
Paulich said deputies located evidence on Henson’s cell phone that indicated he was traveling to Sacramento to sell or trade the assault rifle.
Henson was placed under arrest for being a felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of ammunition, possession of an assault rifle, possession of a controlled substance for sale, transportation of a controlled substance and transportation of an assault rifle, Paulich said.
Paulich said Henson has an extensive criminal history related to narcotics, stolen property and firearms.
Henson was booked into the Lake County Jail where he remains in custody on a no-bail hold, while the other occupants of the vehicle were released with no charges, Paulich said.
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- Written by: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
On May 10, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, or the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, will say farewell to asteroid Bennu and begin its journey back to Earth.
During its Oct. 20, 2020, sample collection event, the spacecraft collected a substantial amount of material from Bennu’s surface, likely exceeding the mission’s requirement of 2 ounces (60 grams). The spacecraft is scheduled to deliver the sample to Earth on Sep. 24, 2023.
“Leaving Bennu’s vicinity in May puts us in the ‘sweet spot,’ when the departure maneuver will consume the least amount of the spacecraft’s onboard fuel,” said Michael Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Nevertheless, with over 593 miles per hour (265 meters per second) of velocity change, this will be the largest propulsive maneuver conducted by OSIRIS-REx since the approach to Bennu in October 2018.”
The May departure also provides the OSIRIS-REx team with the opportunity to plan a final spacecraft flyby of Bennu. This activity was not part of the original mission schedule, but the team is studying the feasibility of a final observation run of the asteroid to potentially learn how the spacecraft’s contact with Bennu’s surface altered the sample site.
If feasible, the flyby will take place in early April and will observe the sample site, named Nightingale, from a distance of approximately 2 miles (3.2 kilometers). Bennu’s surface was considerably disturbed after the Touch-and-Go, or TAG, sample collection event, with the collector head sinking 1.6 feet (48.8 centimeters) into the asteroid’s surface. The spacecraft’s thrusters also disturbed a substantial amount of surface material during the back-away burn.
The mission is planning a single flyby, mimicking one of the observation sequences conducted during the mission’s Detailed Survey phase in 2019. OSIRIS-REx would image Bennu for a full rotation to obtain high-resolution images of the asteroid’s northern and southern hemispheres and equatorial region. The team would then compare these new images with the previous high-resolution imagery of Bennu obtained during 2019.
"OSIRIS-REx has already provided incredible science,” said Lori Glaze, NASA's director of planetary science at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "We're really excited the mission is planning one more observation flyby of asteroid Bennu to provide new information about how the asteroid responded to TAG and to render a proper farewell.”
These post-TAG observations would also give the team a chance to assess the current functionality of science instruments onboard the spacecraft – specifically the OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite, OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer, OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer and OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter.
It is possible dust coated the instruments during the sample collection event and the mission wants to evaluate the status of each. Understanding the health of the instruments is also part of the team’s assessment of possible extended mission opportunities after the sample is delivered to Earth.
The spacecraft will remain in asteroid Bennu’s vicinity until May 10, when the mission will enter its Earth Return Cruise phase. As it approaches Earth, OSIRIS-REx will jettison the Sample Return Capsule, or SRC. The SRC will then travel through the Earth’s atmosphere and land under parachutes at the Utah Test and Training Range.
Once recovered, NASA will transport the capsule to the curation facility at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and distribute the sample to laboratories worldwide, enabling scientists to study the formation of our solar system and Earth as a habitable planet.
Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona in Tucson is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing.
Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information on OSIRIS-REx, visit https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex and https://www.asteroidmission.org.