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State Forest staff will be focused on repairing winter storm damage to roads and facilities throughout the State Forests in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit.
Day use will continue to be permitted from sunrise to sunset.
Seasonal road closures will also be lifted, allowing routine access to State Forest mapped and numbered roads only. Off-roading and off-highway vehicles are not permitted. Please observe posted road closures.
Firewood and rock gathering permits are on sale by appointment only. Permits are $20 for up to 3 cords and are valid for one year after the date of issue.
Forest staff asks the public to plan ahead by checking on forest conditions and weather before arriving.
For more information, please visit https://www.fire.ca.gov/programs/resource-management/resourceprotection-improvement/demonstration-state-forests/boggs/ or call the Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest office at 707-928-4378.
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on May 27, 2023, agreed in principle to a tentative deal that would raise the debt ceiling while capping some federal spending at current levels.
The accord, if approved by both houses of Congress, would avert an unprecedented default that threatens to derail the economy and put hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work. Negotiators agreed to lift the ceiling for two years – past the 2024 presidential election – while putting a temporary cap on most nondefense spending at 2023 levels. It would also reduce planned funding for the IRS, impose new work requirements on some people who receive benefits from the federal program known as SNAP and claw back billions of unspent funds from pandemic relief programs.
The Conversation has been covering the debt ceiling drama since January, when Republicans took over the House, raising fears that brinkmanship would lead to an economic catastrophe. Here are five articles from our archive to help you make sense of a couple key aspects of the tentative deal and provide context on the debt ceiling fight.
1. What is the debt ceiling
First some basics. The debt ceiling was established by the U.S. Congress in 1917. It limits the total national debt by setting out a maximum amount that the government can borrow.
Steven Pressman, an economist at The New School, explained the original aim was “to let then-President Woodrow Wilson spend the money he deemed necessary to fight World War I without waiting for often-absent lawmakers to act. Congress, however, did not want to write the president a blank check, so it limited borrowing to US$11.5 billion and required legislation for any increase.”
Since then, the debt ceiling has been increased dozens of times. It currently stands at $31.4 trillion – a figure reached in January. The Treasury has taken “extraordinary measures” to enable the government to keep borrowing without breaching the ceiling. Such measures, however, can only be temporary – meaning at one point Congress will have to act to lift the ceiling or default on its debt obligations, which is expected to happen by June 5, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, if the deal isn’t approved in time.
2. The trouble with work requirements
One of the biggest sticking points toward the end of negotiations was work requirements for recipients of government aid. The tentative deal would raise the age for existing work requirements from 49 to 54 years on able-bodied adults who have no children. This is less than what Republicans had earlier sought. There are exceptions for veterans and the homeless.
But if the goal is to help people find jobs and make more money, work requirements don’t actually do the job, wrote Kelsey Pukelis, a doctoral student in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School who has studied the issue. Rather, they make it much harder for people who need food aid to get it.
“Our findings do suggest that work requirements restrain federal spending by reducing the number of people getting SNAP benefits,” she explained. “But our work also indicates that in today’s context, these savings would be at the expense of already vulnerable people facing additional economic hardship at a time when a new recession could be around the corner.”
3. IRS funding takes a hit
The deal also takes aim at a big boost in spending Congress gave the Internal Revenue Service beginning in 2022 to crack down on tax cheats and upgrade its software. Democrats agreed to a Republican demand to cut the extra IRS funding from $80 billion to $70 billion.
Back in August 2022, Nirupama Rao, an economist at the University of Michigan, explained why Democrats included all that funding in their Inflation Reduction Act and how it would help the IRS collect more tax revenue, since the agency does not fully collect all the taxes that are owed.
“The main target of this spending is the so-called tax gap, which is currently estimated at about $600 billion a year,” she wrote. “While an $80 billion investment that returns $204 billion already sounds pretty impressive, it may be possible that it’s a conservative estimate.”
4. The hard road to compromise
It took a long time for Republicans and Democrats to get the current agreement.
Yellen warned in January that the government was about to hit the debt limit and would be unable to pay all its bills by May or June. McCarthy and House Republicans, who hold a razor-thin majority, appeared unwilling to raise the debt ceiling unless they could extract deep spending cuts. Meanwhile, Biden refused to negotiate, insisting on a clean debt ceiling bill. Both of those positions were dropped during negotiations.
Why did it take so long for them to reach a compromise?
Blame political trends that have been accelerating for decades, explained Laurel Harbridge-Yong, a specialist in partisan conflict and the lack of bipartisan agreement in American politics at Northwestern University. Many Republicans come from very safe districts, which means their primary against other conservatives is more important than the general election. This makes it more important to stand firm and fight until the bitter end.
“So you now have many Republicans who are more willing to fight quite hard against the Democrats because they don’t want to give a win to Biden,” she wrote. “Democrats are also resistant to compromising, both because they don’t want to gut programs that they put in place and also because they don’t want to make this look like a win for Republicans, who were able to play chicken and get what they wanted.”
5. Latest in a long line of fiscal crises
This was hardly the first fiscal crisis the U.S. government has faced. In fact, there have been many – including 22 government shutdowns since just 1976.
Raymond Scheppach, a professor of public policy at University of Virginia, offered a brief history of recent crises and the damage they’ve caused – and why a default would be far more consequential than past crises.
“While these were very disruptive and damaged the economy and employment, they pale in comparison to the potential effects of failing to lift the debt ceiling, which could be catastrophic,” he wrote. “It could bring down the entire international financial system. This in turn could devastate the world gross domestic product and create mass unemployment.”
Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives. Portions of this article originally appeared in a previous article published on May 2, 2023.
Bryan Keogh, Deputy Managing Editor and Senior Editor of Economy and Business, The Conversation and Matt Williams, Senior Breaking News and International Editor, The Conversation
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Scientists used ground-based telescopes to get unprecedented views, thanks to the giant planet’s position in its long orbit around the Sun.
For the first time, NASA scientists have strong evidence of a polar cyclone on Uranus. By examining radio waves emitted from the ice giant, they detected the phenomenon at the planet’s north pole.
The findings confirm a broad truth about all planets with substantial atmospheres in our solar system: Whether the planets are composed mainly of rock or gas, their atmospheres show signs of a swirling vortex at the poles.
Scientists have long known that Uranus’ south pole has a swirling feature. NASA’s Voyager 2 imaging of methane cloud tops there showed winds at the polar center spinning faster than over the rest of the pole. Voyager’s infrared measurements observed no temperature changes, but the new findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters, do.
Using huge radio antenna dishes of the Very Large Array in New Mexico, they peered below the ice giant’s clouds, determining that the circulating air at the north pole seems to be warmer and drier – the hallmarks of a strong cyclone. Collected in 2015, 2021, and 2022, the observations went deeper into Uranus’ atmosphere than any before.
“These observations tell us a lot more about the story of Uranus. It’s a much more dynamic world than you might think,” said lead author Alex Akins of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It isn’t just a plain blue ball of gas. There’s a lot happening under the hood.”
Uranus is showing off more these days, thanks to the planet’s position in orbit. It’s a long haul around the solar system for this outer planet, taking 84 years to complete a full lap, and for the last few decades the poles weren’t pointed toward Earth. Since about 2015, scientists have had a better view and have been able to look deeper into the polar atmosphere.
Ingredients for a cyclone
The cyclone on Uranus, compactly shaped with warm and dry air at its core, is much like those spotted by NASA’s Cassini at Saturn. With the new findings, cyclones (which rotate in the same direction their planet rotates) or anti-cyclones (which rotate in the opposite direction) have now been identified at the poles on every planet in our solar system except for Mercury, which has no substantial atmosphere.
But unlike hurricanes on Earth, cyclones on Uranus and Saturn aren’t formed over water (neither planet is known to have liquid water), and they don’t drift; they’re locked at the poles. Researchers will be watching closely to see how this newly discovered Uranus cyclone evolves in the coming years.
“Does the warm core we observed represent the same high-speed circulation seen by Voyager?” Akins asked. “Or are there stacked cyclones in Uranus’ atmosphere? The fact that we’re still finding out such simple things about how Uranus’ atmosphere works really gets me excited to find out more about this mysterious planet.”
The National Academies’ 2023 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey prioritized exploring Uranus. In preparation for such a mission, planetary scientists are focused on bolstering their knowledge about the mysterious ice giant’s system.
The forecast said low pressure is expected to bring widespread shower activity throughout the North Coast region on Sunday, along with possible short-lived thunderstorms.
The potential storms are expected on Sunday afternoon, the forecast said.
Conditions are expected to remain warm and mostly cloudy on Sunday evening before clearing the way for a sunny Memorial Day, with daytime highs in the mid 70s and nighttime conditions in the low 50s.
Light winds of up to 9 miles per hour also are in the forecast.
For much of the rest of the week, temperatures are expected to hover in the mid to high 70s, topping out just over 80 degrees by the weekend.
Nighttime conditions will remain in the low 50s, according to the forecast.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Dominick Berwick, 13, is described as a white male juvenile with short brown hair and brown eyes.
He is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds.
Dominick was last seen wearing a brown jacket, black pants and white tennis shoes.
If you have any information regarding his whereabouts, please contact the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251, Extension 1.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of American bulldog, Anatolian shepherd, Catahoula leopard dog, German shepherd, Labrador retriever, mastiff, pit bull, plott hound, pointer and wirehaired 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.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
Male pit bull
This 1-year-old male pit bull has a short tan and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 2, ID No. LCAC-A-5269.
Female German shepherd
This 1 and a half year old female German shepherd has a black and tan coat.
She is in kennel No. 3, ID No. LCAC-A-5296.
Female pit bull
This 2-year-old female pit bull has a short black and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 4, ID No. LCAC-A-5301.
Anatolian shepherd-mastiff mix
This 3-year-old male Anatolian shepherd-mastiff mix has a short fawn coat.
He is in kennel No. 5, ID No. LCAC-A-5276.
Male pit bull puppy
This 3-month-old male pit bull puppy has a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 6, ID No. LCAC-A-5266.
Male pit bull terrier
This 3-month-old male pit bull terrier has a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 7, ID No. LCAC-A-5265.
‘Sky’
“Sky” is a 1 and a half year old female German shepherd with an all-white coat.
She is in kennel No. 8, ID No. LCAC-A-4297.
Male wirehaired terrier
This 1-year-old male wirehaired terrier has a brown coat.
He is in kennel No. 9, ID No. LCAC-A-5261.
Female pit bull terrier-hound mix
This 2-year-old female pit bull terrier-hound mix has a short black and tan coat.
She is in kennel No. 10, ID No. LCAC-A-5259.
Male pit bull
This 1-year-old male pit bull terrier has a short black coat.
He is in kennel No. 11, ID No. LCAC-A-5258.
Male Catahoula leopard dog puppy
This 2-month-old male Catahoula leopard dog puppy has a short brindle coat with white markings.
He is in kennel No. 12b, ID No. LCAC-A-5245.
Female Catahoula leopard dog puppy
This 2-month-old female Catahoula leopard dog puppy has a short brindle coat with white markings.
She is in kennel No. 12c, ID No. LCAC-A-5246.
Female pit bull-pointer mix
This 8-month-old female pit bull-pointer mix has a brown brindle and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 14, ID No. LCAC-A-5230.
Male Catahoula leopard dog puppy
This 2-month-old male Catahoula leopard dog puppy has a short brown brindle coat with white markings.
He is in kennel No. 16a, ID No. LCAC-A-5244.
Male Catahoula leopard dog puppy
This 2-month-old male Catahoula leopard dog puppy has a short white coat with black markings.
He is in kennel No. 16b, ID No. LCAC-A-5247.
Female Catahoula leopard dog puppy
This 2-month-old female Catahoula leopard dog puppy has a short white coat with black markings.
She is in kennel No. 16d, ID No. LCAC-A-5249.
Male plott hound
This 2-year-old male plott hound has a short brown coat.
He is in kennel No. 18, ID No. LCAC-A-5143.
Male American bulldog
This 4-year-old male American bulldog has a gray and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-5204.
Male pit bull terrier
This 3-year-old male pit bull terrier has a short black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 21, ID No. LCAC-A-5076.
Male shepherd
This 2-year-old male shepherd has a tan and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 22, ID No. LCAC-A-5223.
Male terrier
This 1-year-old male terrier mix has a short brown coat.
He is in kennel No. 23, ID No. LCAC-A-5110.
Male terrier
This 1-year-old male terrier has a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-5111.
Male shepherd
This 1-year-old male shepherd has a tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 25, ID No. LCAC-A-5303.
Male pit bull terrier
This 1-year-old male pit bull terrier has a black coat with white markings.
He is in kennel No. 27, ID No. LCAC-A-5203.
American bulldog
This 3-year-old female American bulldog has a short white coat.
She is in kennel No. 28, ID No. LCAC-A-5307.
Male German shepherd
This 3-year-old male German shepherd has a black and tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 29, ID No. LCAC-A-5308.
Pit bull terrier-pointer mix
This 1 and a half year old female pit bull-pointer mix has a white coat.
She is in kennel No. 31, ID No. LCAC-A-5231.
Female pit bull-shepherd puppy
This 5-month-old female pit bull-shepherd puppy has a short tricolor coat.
She is in kennel No. 32, ID No. LCAC-A-5072.
Senior male Labrador retriever
This 9-year-old male Labrador retriever has a black coat with white markings.
He is in kennel No. 34, ID No. LCAC-A-5306.
Email Elizabeth Larson at