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BERKELEY, Calif. – Two UC Berkeley astronomers are eagerly awaiting the spring 2019 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, having been chosen to lead two of the first 13 groups that will test the capabilities of NASA's snazzy new successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
The 13 teams, which were announced earlier this month, won't be able to get their hands on any data for another two years, following a six-month commissioning period after launch.
But from November 2019 until April 2020, these teams will scan objects near and far, ranging from planets in our solar system to planets around nearby stars, and from star systems in the Milky Way galaxy to galaxies at the edge of the universe.
"The diversity of science represented by these 13 teams is amazing," said Daniel Weisz, an assistant professor of astronomy and leader of one of the teams. "We are definitely excited about this opportunity."
The teams are hoping for new discoveries, but they've also been selected because of promises to provide baseline information for future observers and computer software tools that those astronomers will need to make sense of their observations on the telescope.
"With the telescope's five-year lifetime, we need to use it very efficiently to maximize the return," Weisz said. "The early release science program is supposed to produce science-enabling results within five months of the observations, which in the astronomy world is basically yesterday."
Letting astronomers rather than staff take the telescope for a test drive is a new concept for NASA, said Imke de Pater, a UC Berkeley professor of astronomy who will lead a team using the telescope for up-close observations of the solar system.
She and her team will focus on Jupiter, its moons Io and Ganymede and its faint rings, to see if they can capture fine detail against the bright background of Jupiter, which is actually too bright for the telescope to look at without filters.
"We will see if we can image the rings and get rid of the scattered light from Jupiter, which pushes the telescope's limits and really tests the capabilities of JWST," she said.
Weisz, who studies star systems, from globular clusters with millions of stars to galaxies in the local Universe, will take the long view.
He is particularly interested in systems near enough that individual stars can be picked out and counted, which can tell astronomers about the history of the galaxy and ultimately the history of the universe.
The James Webb telescope will be ideal for this, because its mirrors will be two and a half times the size of the mirror in the Hubble space telescope, effectively cutting the time it takes to collect data on a cluster or galaxy by a factor of 10.
This allows detailed studies of the very faintest stars, some of which first started to glow when the universe was a baby more than 10 billion years ago.
"For studies of very faint stars in the Milky Way – our own galaxy – the JWST is going to be phenomenal," he said. "The telescope will do roughly in its five- to 10-year mission what Hubble has done in its 25-year mission for local galaxies."
During the 20 hours of telescope time allocated to his team, they will take images in both optical and infrared for a globular cluster in the Milky Way, a very faint, dark-matter-dominated dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way and a close neighbor and traveling companion of the Milky Way, a galaxy at a distance of about 3 million light years.
By counting and determining the age of each star within within these galaxies, for example, he hopes to shed light on what happened early in the universe when stars first began to shine across the cosmos, the so-called epoch of reionization.
"We are adjusting our academic schedules so that we will be ready to hit the ground as soon as the data gets downloaded; we will be off to the races," Weisz said.
De Pater admits that two years is a long time to wait, but she, her co-principal investigator Thierry Fouchet of the Observatory of Paris and their team hope to use their 28.9 hours of observing time to measure the wind speeds in Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, observe gases in the atmospheres of Io and Ganymede and see ripples left by comets in the rings around the planet.
"The idea is that for any solar system object, you have to assemble a mosaic of the planet or moon from multiple observations when everything is moving and rotating and changing. How do you do that?" de Pater said. "We have to develop the software so that astronomers can put their little postage stamps together into a map."
UC Berkeley research astronomer Michael Wong is one of the co-investigators on de Pater's team.
Robert Sanders writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement for Lake County and other parts of Northern California due to inbound storm systems.
Forecasters said that Friday is expected to be dry, with a warm, weak weather system bringing light precipitation to the northern mountains on Saturday.
On Sunday, more widespread rain is expected across the region due to another mild weather system early in the day, which will be followed by a colder system from late Sunday into early Monday that will bring mountain snow.
The specific Lake County forecast calls for rain on Saturday and Sunday, as well as during the day on Monday before conditions clear through much of the new week.
From Saturday through Monday, much of Lake County is forecast to have about an inch of rain, while north of Upper Lake rainfall totals are forecast to be close to 2 inches.
Temperatures will range from the low 40s at night to the low 60s during the day, according to the forecast.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Forecasters said that Friday is expected to be dry, with a warm, weak weather system bringing light precipitation to the northern mountains on Saturday.
On Sunday, more widespread rain is expected across the region due to another mild weather system early in the day, which will be followed by a colder system from late Sunday into early Monday that will bring mountain snow.
The specific Lake County forecast calls for rain on Saturday and Sunday, as well as during the day on Monday before conditions clear through much of the new week.
From Saturday through Monday, much of Lake County is forecast to have about an inch of rain, while north of Upper Lake rainfall totals are forecast to be close to 2 inches.
Temperatures will range from the low 40s at night to the low 60s during the day, according to the forecast.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Geysers Geothermal Association gets updates on Anderson Springs wastewater project, Geysers pipeline
She reported on the Anderson Springs wastewater project. The Lake County Board of Supervisors signed a contract for construction of the collection system earlier this month.
The contract to actually build the facilities for each individual property including the grinder pump and holding tanks for the first 100 properties will go out to bid in the spring of 2018.
The Anderson Springs Community Alliance will host a community meeting on Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. the Middletown Community Center for updates on the wastewater collection system, warning sirens, emergency exit and other issues of community concern.
The focus of Coppinger's presentation explained how Lake County's recycled water pipeline to The Geysers has benefited Lake County users and replenished and stabilized the steam decline of the world's single-largest geothermal resource developed for electric generation.
The recycled water is treated wastewater (secondary treatment standard) from four wastewater treatment plants which serve 10 communities and conveys 85 percent of Lake County wastewater for stem production.
All of the effluent from the following plants is captured and conveyed to The Geysers:
– Northwest Regional wastewater treatment plant, population 8,903;
– Southeast Regional wastewater treatment plant, population 13,008;
– Clearlake Oaks wastewater treatment plant, population 2,500;
– Middletown wastewater treatment plant, population 869.
Lake County provides an average of 5,000 gallons of treated effluent per minute to Northern California Power Agency and Calpine’s operations at The Geysers.
The city of Santa Rosa Geysers Recharge Project from Sonoma County contributes 12,000 gallons per minute.
The contract Lake County Special Districts has to supply effluent to The Geysers guarantees a consistent amount of flow with the projected 20 years expected population growth initially allowing "make up water" to be drawn from Clear Lake.
However, with the housing collapse of 2008 and the fires of 2015 and 2016, draws from Clear Lake have remained high except for periods of California's drought which caused reductions in water from Clear Lake.
During the heavy rains and flooding in January and February, the Lake County Sanitation District maximized flows of recycled water to The Geysers to avoid spilling from the treatment reservoirs that were overloaded due to the flooding.
Voris Brumfield is president of the Anderson Springs Community Alliance.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has released a draft of the Statewide Elk Conservation and Management Plan for public review and comment.
The plan provides guidance and direction to help set priorities for elk management efforts statewide.
"This draft plan is an important milestone for many of our wildlife program staff, and we're pleased to be one step closer to completion," said CDFW Wildlife Branch Chief Kari Lewis. "Public feedback is a critical part of shaping this effort, which emphasizes the sharing of resources and collaboration with all parties interested in elk and elk management. These are essential for effective management of California's elk populations."
The overarching plan addresses historical and current geographic range, habitat conditions and trends, and major factors affecting Roosevelt, Rocky Mountain and tule elk in California.
The plan also includes subsections that are specific to each of the 22 Elk Management Units in California. These areas collectively comprise the currently known distribution of elk in California, and include locations in Lake County.
Each subsection includes a description of the Elk Management Units and information about elk distribution and abundance, management goals, objectives and actions, herd viability and a summary of annual harvests in that unit.
The plan also outlines management actions that emphasize maintenance and improvement of habitat conditions on both public and private land.
All public comments should be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018.
Comments may be submitted online atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or can be mailed to California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Branch, Attn: Joe Hobbs, 1812 Ninth St., Sacramento, CA 95811.
Comments received by the deadline will be reviewed by CDFW, and appropriate changes will be incorporated into the final document prior to its anticipated release in early 2018.
The plan provides guidance and direction to help set priorities for elk management efforts statewide.
"This draft plan is an important milestone for many of our wildlife program staff, and we're pleased to be one step closer to completion," said CDFW Wildlife Branch Chief Kari Lewis. "Public feedback is a critical part of shaping this effort, which emphasizes the sharing of resources and collaboration with all parties interested in elk and elk management. These are essential for effective management of California's elk populations."
The overarching plan addresses historical and current geographic range, habitat conditions and trends, and major factors affecting Roosevelt, Rocky Mountain and tule elk in California.
The plan also includes subsections that are specific to each of the 22 Elk Management Units in California. These areas collectively comprise the currently known distribution of elk in California, and include locations in Lake County.
Each subsection includes a description of the Elk Management Units and information about elk distribution and abundance, management goals, objectives and actions, herd viability and a summary of annual harvests in that unit.
The plan also outlines management actions that emphasize maintenance and improvement of habitat conditions on both public and private land.
All public comments should be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018.
Comments may be submitted online at
Comments received by the deadline will be reviewed by CDFW, and appropriate changes will be incorporated into the final document prior to its anticipated release in early 2018.
Elk Management Plan Final Public Draft 11-16-17 by LakeCoNews on Scribd
California’s drug, alcohol and suicide death rate could increase by 38 percent in the next 10 years, according to a new report, Pain in the Nation: The Drug, Alcohol and Suicide Epidemics and the Need for a National Resilience Strategy, released today by the Trust for America’s Health and Well Being Trust.
California’s rate could rise to 48.9 per 100,000 deaths from these three causes by 2025 – which would be the 13th lowest – compared to the state’s current rate of 35.4 per 100,000 (as of 2015), which is the 13th lowest.
Nationally, deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide could account for 1.6 million fatalities over the coming decade (2016 to 2025). This would represent a 60 percent increase compared to the past decade, if recent trends hold, based on an analysis conducted by the Berkeley Research Group for this report. From 2006 to 2015, there were 1 million deaths from these three causes.
– Nationally, in 2015, there were 127,500 deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide. The epidemics currently are responsible for 350 deaths per day, 14 per hour and one every four minutes.
– According to the report’s projections, this could reach 192,000 per year by 2025 (39.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2015 compared to 55.9 per 100,000 in 2025).
– At a state level, in 2005, 21 states and Washington, D.C. had death rates from these three causes above 30 per 100,000, and only six states had death rates above 40 per 100,000.
– As of 2015, 48 states and Washington, D.C. had rates above 30 per 100,000, 30 were above 40 per 100,000 and five states had rates above 60 per 100,000, including New Mexico which had the highest rate of 77.4 per 100,000.
– By 2025, 26 states could reach 60 deaths per 100,000 – and two states (New Mexico and West Virginia) could reach rates of 100 deaths per 100,000.
The study found, however, that these numbers may be conservative, especially with the rapid rise of heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil use. If the nation continues along recent trajectories, death rates would actually double to 2 million by 2025.
“These numbers are staggering, tragic – and preventable,” said John Auerbach, president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health. “There is a serious crisis across the nation and solutions must go way beyond reducing the supply of opioids, other drugs and alcohol. Greater steps – that promote prevention, resiliency and opportunity – must be taken to address the underlying issues of pain, hopelessness and despair.”
The report showed that current nationwide trends included drug overdose deaths tripling between 2000 and 2015 (with a total of 52,400 deaths in 2015), with rural community opioid-related death rates increasing seven-fold.
Provisional data shows drug overdoses could exceed 64,000 in 2016, with fentanyl deaths alone accounting for 21,000 of these deaths (and fentanyl-related deaths doubling between 2015 and 2016). California’s drug overdose death rate was 11.9 per 100,000 in 2015.
Alcohol-induced deaths increased 37 percent between 2000 and 2015, reaching a 35-year high at 33,200 deaths in 2015. This excludes alcohol-attributable deaths related to injury and violence. California’s alcohol-induced death rate was 13.2 per 100,000 in 2015.
Suicide deaths increased by 28 percent between 2000 and 2015 to more than 44,000 deaths (as of 2015). Rural suicide rates are 40 percent higher than in metro areas. California’s suicide death rate was 10.7 per 100,000 in 2015.
As of 2015, more than 43 million Americans experienced a mental health issue, more than 20 million had a substance use disorder and more than 8 million experienced both – and these numbers are likely to be underestimates due to stigma and lack of available treatment.
Only around one in 10 people with substance use disorders receive recommended treatment.
“We’re facing a generational crisis. And it calls for bigger and bolder action. Simply creating new programs to address one piece of the problem is insufficient – we need more robust and systematic change. The good news is: we know a lot about what works and can make a difference," said Benjamin F. Miller, PsyD, chief policy officer, Well Being Trust. “This report highlights the need for investments that take a whole-person approach to wellbeing – encompassing the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of well-being – to truly address the drivers of pain, ultimately saving lives.”
Pain in the Nation calls for the creation of a National Resilience Strategy that takes a comprehensive approach by focusing on prevention, early identification of issues and effective treatment.
The report highlights more than 60 research-based policies, practices and programs to reduce substance misuse and suicide and improve well-being.
Some key recommendations from the report include:
– Improve pain management and treatment by helping people heal physically, mentally and emotionally. Approaches must acknowledge that there are different types of pain and experts from mental health, medical care and other disciplines must develop team-based solutions that focus on proactively addressing pain before it gets worse.
–Stem the opioid crisis with a full-scale approach – including promoting responsible opioid prescribing practices (such as provider education and best practices for prescription drug monitoring programs); public education about misuse and safe disposal of unused drugs; “hotspot” intervention strategies; anti-trafficking to stop the flow of heroin, fentanyl and other illicit drugs; and expanding the use and availability of rescue drugs, sterile syringes and diversion programs.
– Address the impact of the opioid epidemic on children – and the need for a multigenerational response that includes substance use disorder treatment for parents and wrap-around services for children and families, including grandparents and other relatives who help care for children, and expand support for the foster care system. Model programs for families struggling with opioid and other substance misuse disorders have been twice as effective in helping mothers achieve sobriety, reduced state custody placement of children by half and had a return on investment of $2.22 for every $1 spent on child welfare programs.
– Lower excessive alcohol use through evidence-based policies, such as by increasing pricing, limiting hours and density of alcohol sales, enforcing underage drinking laws and holding sellers and hosts liable for serving minors. For example, a 10 percent increase in the price of alcoholic beverages is shown to reduce consumption by 7.7 percent.
– Prevent suicides by expanding crisis intervention services; anti-bullying and social-emotional learning in schools; and support systems for Veterans; and better integrating mental health into primary care. For instance, the Zero Suicide model program has shown 80 percent reductions in suicides.
– Expand and modernize mental health and substance use disorder treatment services – toward a goal of focusing on the “whole health” of individuals by prioritizing innovative integrated delivery models for rural and underserved urban areas and expanding the provider workforce, including those who can deliver medication-assisted treatment. Some effective substance use treatment programs have a return of $3.77 per $1 invested.
– Prioritize prevention, reduce risk factors and promote resilience in children, families and communities by limiting trauma and adverse experiences, which have the biggest long-term impact on later substance misuse, and promoting better mental health. For instance, nurse family home visiting programs have a return of $5.70 for every $1 invested, and early childhood education programs have a $4 to $12 return for every $1 invested.
– Reboot Substance Misuse Prevention and Mental Health in Schools by scaling up evidence-based life- and coping-skills programs and inclusive school environments and increasing the availability of mental health and other services. Top school substance misuse prevention programs have a $3.80 to $34 return for every $1 invested; social-emotional learning programs have an $11 for $1 return; and school violence prevention (including suicide) programs have a $15 to $81 for $1 return.
California’s rate could rise to 48.9 per 100,000 deaths from these three causes by 2025 – which would be the 13th lowest – compared to the state’s current rate of 35.4 per 100,000 (as of 2015), which is the 13th lowest.
Nationally, deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide could account for 1.6 million fatalities over the coming decade (2016 to 2025). This would represent a 60 percent increase compared to the past decade, if recent trends hold, based on an analysis conducted by the Berkeley Research Group for this report. From 2006 to 2015, there were 1 million deaths from these three causes.
– Nationally, in 2015, there were 127,500 deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide. The epidemics currently are responsible for 350 deaths per day, 14 per hour and one every four minutes.
– According to the report’s projections, this could reach 192,000 per year by 2025 (39.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2015 compared to 55.9 per 100,000 in 2025).
– At a state level, in 2005, 21 states and Washington, D.C. had death rates from these three causes above 30 per 100,000, and only six states had death rates above 40 per 100,000.
– As of 2015, 48 states and Washington, D.C. had rates above 30 per 100,000, 30 were above 40 per 100,000 and five states had rates above 60 per 100,000, including New Mexico which had the highest rate of 77.4 per 100,000.
– By 2025, 26 states could reach 60 deaths per 100,000 – and two states (New Mexico and West Virginia) could reach rates of 100 deaths per 100,000.
The study found, however, that these numbers may be conservative, especially with the rapid rise of heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil use. If the nation continues along recent trajectories, death rates would actually double to 2 million by 2025.
“These numbers are staggering, tragic – and preventable,” said John Auerbach, president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health. “There is a serious crisis across the nation and solutions must go way beyond reducing the supply of opioids, other drugs and alcohol. Greater steps – that promote prevention, resiliency and opportunity – must be taken to address the underlying issues of pain, hopelessness and despair.”
The report showed that current nationwide trends included drug overdose deaths tripling between 2000 and 2015 (with a total of 52,400 deaths in 2015), with rural community opioid-related death rates increasing seven-fold.
Provisional data shows drug overdoses could exceed 64,000 in 2016, with fentanyl deaths alone accounting for 21,000 of these deaths (and fentanyl-related deaths doubling between 2015 and 2016). California’s drug overdose death rate was 11.9 per 100,000 in 2015.
Alcohol-induced deaths increased 37 percent between 2000 and 2015, reaching a 35-year high at 33,200 deaths in 2015. This excludes alcohol-attributable deaths related to injury and violence. California’s alcohol-induced death rate was 13.2 per 100,000 in 2015.
Suicide deaths increased by 28 percent between 2000 and 2015 to more than 44,000 deaths (as of 2015). Rural suicide rates are 40 percent higher than in metro areas. California’s suicide death rate was 10.7 per 100,000 in 2015.
As of 2015, more than 43 million Americans experienced a mental health issue, more than 20 million had a substance use disorder and more than 8 million experienced both – and these numbers are likely to be underestimates due to stigma and lack of available treatment.
Only around one in 10 people with substance use disorders receive recommended treatment.
“We’re facing a generational crisis. And it calls for bigger and bolder action. Simply creating new programs to address one piece of the problem is insufficient – we need more robust and systematic change. The good news is: we know a lot about what works and can make a difference," said Benjamin F. Miller, PsyD, chief policy officer, Well Being Trust. “This report highlights the need for investments that take a whole-person approach to wellbeing – encompassing the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of well-being – to truly address the drivers of pain, ultimately saving lives.”
Pain in the Nation calls for the creation of a National Resilience Strategy that takes a comprehensive approach by focusing on prevention, early identification of issues and effective treatment.
The report highlights more than 60 research-based policies, practices and programs to reduce substance misuse and suicide and improve well-being.
Some key recommendations from the report include:
– Improve pain management and treatment by helping people heal physically, mentally and emotionally. Approaches must acknowledge that there are different types of pain and experts from mental health, medical care and other disciplines must develop team-based solutions that focus on proactively addressing pain before it gets worse.
–Stem the opioid crisis with a full-scale approach – including promoting responsible opioid prescribing practices (such as provider education and best practices for prescription drug monitoring programs); public education about misuse and safe disposal of unused drugs; “hotspot” intervention strategies; anti-trafficking to stop the flow of heroin, fentanyl and other illicit drugs; and expanding the use and availability of rescue drugs, sterile syringes and diversion programs.
– Address the impact of the opioid epidemic on children – and the need for a multigenerational response that includes substance use disorder treatment for parents and wrap-around services for children and families, including grandparents and other relatives who help care for children, and expand support for the foster care system. Model programs for families struggling with opioid and other substance misuse disorders have been twice as effective in helping mothers achieve sobriety, reduced state custody placement of children by half and had a return on investment of $2.22 for every $1 spent on child welfare programs.
– Lower excessive alcohol use through evidence-based policies, such as by increasing pricing, limiting hours and density of alcohol sales, enforcing underage drinking laws and holding sellers and hosts liable for serving minors. For example, a 10 percent increase in the price of alcoholic beverages is shown to reduce consumption by 7.7 percent.
– Prevent suicides by expanding crisis intervention services; anti-bullying and social-emotional learning in schools; and support systems for Veterans; and better integrating mental health into primary care. For instance, the Zero Suicide model program has shown 80 percent reductions in suicides.
– Expand and modernize mental health and substance use disorder treatment services – toward a goal of focusing on the “whole health” of individuals by prioritizing innovative integrated delivery models for rural and underserved urban areas and expanding the provider workforce, including those who can deliver medication-assisted treatment. Some effective substance use treatment programs have a return of $3.77 per $1 invested.
– Prioritize prevention, reduce risk factors and promote resilience in children, families and communities by limiting trauma and adverse experiences, which have the biggest long-term impact on later substance misuse, and promoting better mental health. For instance, nurse family home visiting programs have a return of $5.70 for every $1 invested, and early childhood education programs have a $4 to $12 return for every $1 invested.
– Reboot Substance Misuse Prevention and Mental Health in Schools by scaling up evidence-based life- and coping-skills programs and inclusive school environments and increasing the availability of mental health and other services. Top school substance misuse prevention programs have a $3.80 to $34 return for every $1 invested; social-emotional learning programs have an $11 for $1 return; and school violence prevention (including suicide) programs have a $15 to $81 for $1 return.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Come out and celebrate the holidays with the annual Christmas parade and tree lighting ceremony in Clearlake on Saturday, Dec. 9.
The theme for the parade this year is “the 12 days of Christmas.”
The lighted parade will begin at 6 p.m. from Redbud Park and end at Austin Park with the lighting of the Clearlake Christmas tree.
Lakeshore Drive will be closed to traffic during the parade.
This event is free and open to the public.
Hot chocolate and glow sticks will be provided by the Lakeshore Lions Club.
Santa and Mrs. Claus have RSVP’d and will be in the gazebo to pose for photographs courtesy of My Wicked Pix.
“This parade really sets off the holiday season in Clearlake,” said City Manager Greg Folsom. “The parade was great last year and we are hoping for an even better event this year.”
If you would like to participate in the parade, contact the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce at 707-994-3600 or