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CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has nearly three dozen dogs waiting to be adopted into new families.
The Clearlake Animal Control website continues to list 34 dogs for adoption.
This week’s dogs include “Emma,” a female Rottweiler mix with a black and tan coat.
“Henry” is a male pit bull terrier mix with a red and white coat.
“Clyde” is a male Great Pyrenees mix with a fluffy black and white coat.
The shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, call the shelter at 707-762-6227, email
This week’s adoptable dogs are featured below.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Talks between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and UPS over a new contract fell apart on July 5, 2023. The union and the shipping and logistics company are blaming each other for the collapse, which occurred a few weeks after 97% of UPS’s Teamsters voted to strike if the Teamsters and UPS don’t reach an agreement by midnight on July 31.
Without a deal in place, more than 300,000 Teamsters will stop working on Aug. 1. It would mark the delivery service’s first strike since 1997.
The Conversation asked Jason Miller, a supply chain scholar at Michigan State University, to explain how likely it is that this will happen and what to expect if it does.
What are the reasons for this impending strike?
Before the talks collapsed, both sides had been negotiating extensively on a new five-year agreement that would cover about 340,000 unionized UPS workers.
The delivery company has agreed to some of the Teamsters’ demands, pledging to:
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End a two-tiered wage system in which part-time workers earn an average of about US$5 per hour less than full-time workers;
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Make Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the third Monday of January, a paid holiday;
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Stop requiring UPS employees to work overtime hours on their days off;
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Add fans and install air conditioning in many trucks to improve cooling.
The primary remaining sticking points concern part-time workers. The Teamsters dispute UPS’s claim that part-time workers earn an average of $20 per hour. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien instead says they’re paid “poverty wages.”
The Teamsters further want part-time workers to have earlier access to health insurance coverage and pension plans and a clearer pathway to full-time employment. The union also seeks to resolve safety and health concerns and “better pay for all workers,” as well as obtaining “stronger protections against managerial harassment.”
The impasse comes after two years in which UPS posted record profits. The company cleared $12.9 billion and $11.5 billion, respectively, in 2021 and 2022. The company nearly tripled its net income from the levels seen in 2018 and 2019 of $4.8 billion and $4.4 billion.
The Teamsters argue that these record profits mean UPS can afford to pay higher wages.
What should consumers expect?
If unionized UPS workers do go on strike, many U.S. consumers will surely fear delays in the delivery of their online purchases. In my view, that’s a reasonable concern, given that UPS handles roughly 25% of all U.S. package deliveries.
The 1997 strike, which lasted 16 days, took place when e-commerce was in its infancy. The Census Bureau only began to track that slice of the economy in 1999, when online shopping amounted to about 0.6% of all retail sales. Today, consumers spend about 15% of their shopping dollars on e-commerce purchases.
If a strike were to happen, UPS competitors, including FexEx Ground and the United States Postal Service, would likely be able to handle about 20% of UPS’s deliveries because the industry currently has some excess capacity.
That’s due to delivery workers clocking fewer hours per week today compared to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parcel delivery demand peaked in 2021, when millions of Americans were still social distancing.
If a prolonged strike happens, UPS could lose up to 30% of its business, experts warn, as customers switch to rival services.
The risk of losing market share is leading many industry experts to believe that if a strike were to occur, it wouldn’t last long.
What about businesses?
Roughly 57.3% of the packages UPS delivers are shipped straight to consumers. The rest go to retailers and other businesses.
Based on my years of researching transportation operations and supply chain disruptions, I believe Americans should recognize that the impact of a UPS strike would stretch far beyond delayed delivery of everything from pet food to tennis rackets that they buy online.
A UPS strike could disrupt the availability of spare parts for cars and wholesale medical supplies, just to name a few essentials. Consumers will also find it harder to get clothing and shoes in stores, as retail locations are typically replenished by parcel carriers.
The supply chain for manufacturing computer and electronics products would probably be disrupted too, according to my analysis of data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics that tracks how different industries transport products to their customers. Farmers and construction companies trying to get spare parts for heavy equipment would see delays in those shipments, which might result in downtime that costs tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Consequently, a strike would leave many businesses scrambling to fulfill customers’ orders, which may force them to spend more money on higher-priced air freight shipping.
Even a 10-day strike could cost the U.S. economy an estimated $7.1 billion , according to Anderson Economic Group – a research firm – making it potentially the costliest strike in U.S. history. These costs stem from the 340,000 striking workers losing an estimated $1.1 billion in wages and UPS losing $816 million in earnings. The balance of this estimate would result from the disruptions incurred by UPS customers.
What do you think will happen?
Unlike the threatened railroad strikes of 2022, there is no system in place for the federal government to prevent a UPS strike. On that occasion, Congress had the option of intervening, but a deal was reached before the government had to step in.
However, it seems likely that there will be calls for the White House to get both parties back to the negotiating table.
Given that both the Teamsters and UPS have an incentive to not see the company lose customers to rival shipping operations, I believe that they may reach a deal soon enough to avoid a costly and disruptive strike. Consistent with this, UPS announced on July 19, 2023, that it and the Teamsters will return to the negotiating table before their July 31 deadline.
Jason Miller, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management, Michigan State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
A state agency that has a direct impact on Lake County residents and millions of other Californians is celebrating its golden anniversary.
Fifty years ago this month, the state of California established a new Department of Transportation, today known as Caltrans, to unify a wide range of transportation functions under a single entity.
Since July 1973, the department has managed one of the most complex transportation systems in the nation and helped play a vital role in creating the world’s fourth largest economy.
Five decades later, Caltrans continues its mission to deliver a best-in-class experience for all Californians, regardless of the mode of travel they choose.
Additionally, to honor the milestone, Caltrans has released an updated history page on its official website.
This new content traces the state’s transportation roots from 1895 when the Bureau of Highways was formed and chronicles key developments and noteworthy projects spanning to the present day.
Visit the Caltrans Historical Page here.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Earlier this month, the Clearlake Police Department served five search warrants at properties within the city involving illegal marijuana growing operations.
Police said approximately 3,650 marijuana plants and just over one 1,000 pounds of processed marijuana were seized from the five locations.
Additionally, 12 illegally owned firearms and approximately 6,450 rounds of ammunition were seized from four of the locations, officials reported.
The marijuana plants at the properties were mostly outdoors, but several had marijuana growing inside the residences, police said.
Police said none of the properties had licenses allowing the cultivation of marijuana.
Four people were arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail for charges related to illegal marijuana operations and firearms, according to the police report.
In 2021, the U.S. marriage rate was 14.9 marriages in the last year per 1,000 women, down from 16.3 a decade earlier. And the 2021 divorce rate dropped to 6.9 in the last year from 9.7 divorces per 1,000 women in 2011.
But the rates varied by state during both time periods.
Now, an updated U.S. Census Bureau visualization allows you to rank and compare divorce and marriage rates in your state to those in other states and the nation.
Using data from the 2011 and 2021 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, it provides a state-by-state look at marriage and divorce rates per 1,000 women age 15 and older. Please note that not all differences in state marriage and divorce rates are statistically significant.
While the U.S. Census Bureau publishes estimates for both men and women, we have restricted this visualization to data for women to provide a digestible look at trends in marriage and divorce.
Historically, women’s data have often been presented when a choice needs to be made. Previous research [PDF 2.3 MB] found that women more often report data for themselves and report their marital history more accurately.
According to the data, in 2021:
• Alaska and Utah had among the highest marriage rates, at 23.5 and 22.3, respectively. These rates, however, do not significantly differ from each other.
• Puerto Rico had among the lowest marriage and divorce rates. Its marriage rate was 4.7 and its divorce rate 3.9. Puerto Rico’s low marriage and divorce rates likely resulted, at least in part from the high outmigration of its young adult population, especially after Hurricane Maria.
• Massachusetts had a marriage rate of 11.8, also among the nation’s lowest.
• Idaho and Arkansas had among the highest divorce rates, at 11.1 and 11.0, respectively (not a statistically significant difference).
• New Hampshire had a divorce rate of 4.3, among the lowest in the nation.
There are three components of the visualization: an introductory tab discussing how marriage and divorce rates are calculated; a map tab showing each state’s marriage and divorce rates compared to the national average; and a ranking table tab showing each state’s marriage/divorce rank in 2011 and 2021.
Chanell Washington and Lydia Anderson are family demographers in the Census Bureau’s Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division.
To see the live visualization, visit here.
Extreme heat has been breaking records across Europe, Asia and North America, with millions of people sweltering in heat and humidity well above “normal” for days on end.
Death Valley hit a temperature of 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.3 degrees Celsius) on July 16, 2023 – not quite the world’s hottest day on record, but close. Phoenix broke a record heat streak with 19 straight days with temperatures above 110 F (43.3 C), and had more in the forecast, accompanied by several nights that never got below 90 F (32.2 C). Globally, Earth likely had its hottest week on modern record in early July.
Heat waves are becoming supercharged as the climate changes – lasting longer, becoming more frequent and getting just plain hotter.
One question a lot of people are asking is: “When will it get too hot for normal daily activity as we know it, even for young, healthy adults?”
The answer goes beyond the temperature you see on the thermometer. It’s also about humidity. Our research is designed to come up with the combination of the two, measured as “wet-bulb temperature.” Together, heat and humidity put people at greatly increased risk, and the combination gets dangerous at lower levels than scientists previously believed.
The limits of human adaptability
Scientists and other observers have become alarmed about the increasing frequency of extreme heat paired with high humidity.
People often point to a study published in 2010 that theorized that a wet-bulb temperature of 95 F (35 C) – equal to a temperature of 95 F at 100% humidity, or 115 F at 50% humidity – would be the upper limit of safety, beyond which the human body can no longer cool itself by evaporating sweat from the surface of the body to maintain a stable body core temperature.
It was not until recently that this limit was tested on humans in laboratory settings. The results of these tests show an even greater cause for concern.
The PSU H.E.A.T. Project
To answer the question of “how hot is too hot?” we brought young, healthy men and women into the Noll Laboratory at Penn State University to experience heat stress in a controlled environmental chamber.
These experiments provide insight into which combinations of temperature and humidity begin to become harmful for even the healthiest humans.
Each participant swallowed a small telemetry pill that continuously monitored their deep body or core temperature. They then sat in an environmental chamber, moving just enough to simulate the minimal activities of daily living, such as showering, cooking and eating. Researchers slowly increased either the temperature in the chamber or the humidity in hundreds of separate experiments and monitored when the subject’s core temperature started to rise.
That combination of temperature and humidity at which the person’s core temperature starts to continuously rise is called the “critical environmental limit.”
Below those limits, the body is able to maintain a relatively stable core temperature over long periods of time. Above those limits, core temperature rises continuously and the risk of heat-related illnesses with prolonged exposures is increased.
When the body overheats, the heart has to work harder to pump blood flow to the skin to dissipate the heat, and when you’re also sweating, that decreases body fluids. In the direst case, prolonged exposure can result in heat stroke, a life-threatening problem that requires immediate and rapid cooling and medical treatment.
Our studies on young healthy men and women show that this upper environmental limit is even lower than the theorized 35 C. It occurs at a wet-bulb temperature of about 87 F (31 C) across a range of environments above 50% relative humidity. That would equal 87 F at 100% humidity or 100 F (38 C) at 60% humidity.
Dry vs. humid environments
Current heat waves around the globe are exceeding those critical environmental limits, and approaching, if not exceeding, even the theorized 95 F (35 C) wet-bulb limits.
In the Middle East, Asaluyeh, Iran, recorded an extremely dangerous maximum wet-bulb temperature of 92.7 F (33.7 C) on July 16, 2023. India and Pakistan have both reached hazardous levels in recent years, as well.
In hot, dry environments, the critical environmental limits aren’t defined by wet-bulb temperatures, because almost all the sweat the body produces evaporates, which cools the body. However, the amount humans can sweat is limited, and we also gain more heat from the higher air temperatures.
Keep in mind that these cutoffs are based solely on keeping your body temperature from rising excessively. Even lower temperatures and humidity can place stress on the heart and other body systems.
A recent paper from our laboratory showed that heart rate begins to increase well before our core temperature does, as we pump blood to the skin. And while eclipsing these limits does not necessarily present a worst-case scenario, prolonged exposure may become dire for vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those with chronic diseases.
Our experimental focus has now turned to testing older men and women, since even healthy aging makes people less heat-tolerant. The increased prevalence of heart disease, respiratory problems and other health problems, as well as certain medications, can put them at even higher risk of harm. People over the age of 65 comprise some 80% to 90% of heat wave casualties.
How to stay safe
Staying well hydrated and seeking areas in which to cool down – even for short periods – are important in high heat.
While more cities in the United States are expanding cooling centers to help people escape the heat, there will still be many people who will experience these dangerous conditions with no way to cool themselves.
Even those with access to air conditioning might not turn it on because of the high cost of energy – a common occurrence in Phoenix – or because of large-scale power outages during heat waves or wildfires, as is becoming more common in the western U.S.
All told, the evidence continues to mount that climate change is not just a problem for the future. It is one that humanity is currently facing and must tackle head-on.
This is an update to an article originally published July 6, 2022.
W. Larry Kenney, Professor of Physiology, Kinesiology and Human Performance, Penn State; Daniel Vecellio, Geographer-climatologist and Postdoctoral Fellow, Penn State; Rachel Cottle, Ph.D. Candidate in Exercise Physiology, Penn State, and S. Tony Wolf, Postdoctoral Researcher in Kinesiology, Penn State
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.