LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – “Your food is delicious, you should be a chef!” “You should open your own restaurant!”
Have you dreamed of starting your own food enterprise or restaurant, but always found the barriers to entry too great?
Beginning Jan. 4, the Lake County Health Services Department’s Environmental Health Division will be accepting applications and issuing up to 10 permits for Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations.
MHKOs are small, home-based food service operations that can be the right fit for promising new chefs or people looking to try something different at a manageable level of risk:
· Maximums of 60 meals per week, 30 meals per day;
· No more than $50,000 worth of annual sales.
Lake is the second California county to implement this innovative program.
The pilot, which takes place from Jan. 4 to June 30, allows up to two permits per month, and a maximum of two per supervisorial district, so interested people should prepare now to participate.
“This is a very exciting chance for people in Lake County to fulfill a dream,” noted Eddie Crandell, District 3 supervisor and MHKO proponent. “Start up costs are an obstacle for many who have wonderful recipes they want to share with the world.”
“This program opens the door to a culinary gig economy, promoting business opportunity and resiliency in these turbulent times,” added District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, a key architect of Lake County’s local ordinance. “COVID-19 has greatly impacted traditional restaurants. I’m proud Lake County is at the forefront, and look forward to seeing this grow.”
Prior to obtaining an MHKO permit, approvals are needed. Food and environmental safety must be ensured, for example. Renters need permission from their landlord. Depending on the type of enterprise proposed, additional permits may be needed from the Lake County Community Development Department or relevant City Planning Department. In the cities, a business license is required.
More detail can be found in the county’s Ordinance No. 3999, passed Dec. 1.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-05) will host a webinar next week to share information on the aid available to businesses under the latest round of coronavirus relief that Congress passed in late December and which the president signed into law last weekend.
The webinar will take place at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, via Zoom and also will be streamed on Thompson’s Facebook page.
This new relief bill included more than $300 billion for small businesses, including for the Paycheck Protection Program and other resources.
Thompson will host the webinar with representatives from the Small Business Administration, who will provide updates and answer questions about these resources.
There are 500 slots available on the webinar to participants, which will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. These slots are non-transferable.
If you would like to participate, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the following details: Your name, the name of your business, the best email to reach you and your phone number.
An email will be sent containing information on how to join this webinar shortly before it begins.
“Know that I will continue working to bring relief back to our district to help us respond to and recover from the pandemic,” Thompson said.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has a big selection of dogs ready to start the new year in new homes.
The following dogs are ready for adoption or foster.
“Bella.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Bella’
“Bella” is a female Siberian Husky mix.
She has a long red and white coat.
She is dog No. 4428.
“Ben.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Ben’
“Ben” is a male American Pit Bull terrier mix.
He has a short brindle coat.
He is dog No. 4454.
“Breeze.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Breeze’
“Breeze” is a female American Pit Bull Terrier mix.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 4445.
“Brownie.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Brownie’
“Brownie” is a male Chihuahua with a short black and tan coat.
He is dog No. 4431.
“Bruce.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Bruce’
“Bruce” is a male American Staffordshire Terrier mix puppy.
He has a short smooth yellow coat.
He is dog No. 4383.
“Bumble.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Bumble’
“Bumble” is a male Siberian Husky with a gray and black coat.
He is dog No. 4452.
“Jerry.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Jerry’
“Jerry” is a male American Pit Bull terrier with a short brindle coat.
He is dog No. 4455.
“Rudolph.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Rudolph’
“Rudolph” is a male shepherd mix.
He has a short tan and black coat.
He is dog No. 4436.
“Tinsle.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Tinsle’
“Tinsle” is a female American Pit Bull Terrier mix puppy.
She has a short brindle and brown coat.
She is dog No. 4433.
“Toby.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Toby’
“Toby” is a male boxer mix.
He has a short tan and white coat.
He is dog No. 4389.
“Yule.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Yule’
“Yule” is a husky of undetermined gender with a black and white coat.
Yule is dog No. 4432.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
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.
Dennis Fordham. Courtesy photo. A representative payee is a person or an organization appointed by the Social Security Administration, or SSA, to receive and manage Social Security income or Supplemental Security Income payments on behalf of a beneficiary whom the SSA has determined cannot manage their own income or who is susceptible to undue influence.
Representative payees are appointed by the SSA based on an application. Usually the representative is the beneficiary’s family member or friend, but it can be an organization. The SSA gives preference to the beneficiary's nomination.
The representative payee should be someone who is involved with the beneficiary’s current personal needs. The same person who serves as the beneficiary’s agent under a power of attorney, or as trustee of the beneficiary’s special needs trust, may also become the representative payee, upon SSA’s certification.
On its website, the SSA says that, “[a] payee’s main duties are to use the benefits to pay for the current and future needs of the beneficiary, and properly save any benefits not needed to meet current needs. A payee must also keep records of expenses. When we request a report, a payee must provide an accounting to us of how he or she used or saved the benefits.”
Once appointed, the representative payee should open and manage a joint bank account as representative payee in the beneficiary’s name, meet regularly with the payee to determine all the beneficiary’s current needs are met, pay the beneficiary’s current expenses on a timely and regular basis, and make sure that the account does not exceed the applicable resource limit if the beneficiary receives SSI and/or Medi-Cal.
The SSA’s “A Guide For Representative Payee” is available online.
A representative payee may spend funds "only for the use and benefit of the beneficiary," after considering what the payee determines to be in, "the [beneficiary's] best interests." 20 CFR §404.2035(a); Program Operations Manual System [POMS] GN 00602.001(A)(1). That includes paying for, "cost[s] incurred in obtaining food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and personal comfort items." 20 Code of Federal Regulations §404.2040(a); POMS GN 00602.001–GN 00602.140.
The representative payee also has the following administrative/reporting duties, as listed on the SSA’s website: “Report any changes or events which could affect the beneficiary's eligibility for payments; Keep records of all payments received and how you spent and saved them; Provide all records of how payments are spent or saved to SSA upon request; Report to SSA any changes that would affect your performance or your continuing as payee; Complete reports accounting for your use of payments, as required.”
The representative payee, excluding spouses and parents who are payees, must report and account annually to the SSA for the use of the funds.
The SSA acts to deter, detect and handle any abuse of payee funds by a representative payee.
To that end, “[t]he Commissioner of Social Security may require a report at any time from any person receiving payments on behalf of another, if the Commissioner of Social Security has reason to believe that the person receiving such payments is misusing such payments.” 42 USC §405(j)(3)(D).
The SSA website tells payees that in addition to the annual report, “An SSA approved partner organization may conduct a review to determine if you have performed the following duties: Managed payments so the beneficiary(ies) have no unmet current needs; Accounted for all payments received and spent; Conserved any unspent payments in an appropriate manner; and Complied with representative payee accounting and reporting responsibilities.”
Beneficiaries who are dissatisfied with how much is spent on them are advised by the SSA to, “talk with [the] payee about how he or she spends [the beneficiary’s] money. [The] payee should show [the beneficiary] how much money [he or she] get[s] from Social Security or SSI and how much he or she spends on [the beneficiary’s] needs.” If abuse is suspected, then go to SSA’s website to report the matter to the Office Inspector General of the SSA.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, Calif. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and 707-263-3235.
From the International Space Station’s orbit 269 miles above the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia, this nighttime photograph captures the aurora australis, or "southern lights." Russia's Soyuz MS-12 crew ship is in the foreground and Progress 72 resupply ship in the background. Credits: NASA. NASA has approved two heliophysics missions to explore the Sun and the system that drives space weather near Earth.
Together, NASA’s contribution to the Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission, or EUVST, and the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer, or EZIE, will help us understand the Sun and Earth as an interconnected system.
Understanding the physics that drive the solar wind and solar explosions – including solar flares and coronal mass ejections – could one day help scientists predict these events, which can impact human technology and explorers in space.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, leads the Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope, or EUVST, Epsilon Mission, also called Solar-C EUVST Mission, along with other international partners.
Targeted for launch in 2026, EUVST is a solar telescope that will study how the solar atmosphere releases solar wind and drives eruptions of solar material. These phenomena propagate out from the Sun and influence the space radiation environment throughout the solar system.
NASA’s hardware contributions to the mission include an intensified UV detector and support electronics, spectrograph components, a guide telescope, software and a slit-jaw imaging system to provide context for the spectrographic measurement.
The budget for NASA contributions to EUVST is $55 million. The principal investigator for the NASA contribution to EUVST is Harry Warren at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington.
The Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer, or EZIE, will study electric currents in Earth’s atmosphere linking aurora to the Earth’s magnetosphere – one piece of Earth’s complicated space weather system, which responds to solar activity and other factors.
The Auroral Electrojet, or AE, index is a common measure of geomagnetic activity levels, even though the details of the structure of these currents is not understood. EZIE will launch no earlier than June 2024. The total budget for the EZIE mission is $53.3 million.
The principal investigator for the mission is Jeng-Hwa “Sam” Yee at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
“We are very pleased to add these new missions to the growing fleet of satellites that are studying our Sun-Earth system using an amazing array of unprecedented observational tools,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “In addition to my enthusiasm at selecting a pioneering multi-point observatory focused on the auroral electrojets, I am particularly excited to follow up the success of the Yohkoh and Hinode solar science missions with another international collaboration with JAXA and other European partners on EUVST.”
The EUVST mission addresses the recommendations of a July 2017 final report delivered by the multi-agency Next Generation Solar Physics Mission Science Objectives Team. EUVST will take comprehensive UV spectroscopy measurements of the solar atmosphere at the highest level of detail to date, which will allow scientists to tease out how different magnetic and plasma processes drive coronal heating and energy release.
“We’re excited to work with our international partners to answer some of our fundamental questions about the Sun,” said Nicky Fox, Heliophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “EUVST’s observations will complement our current missions to give us new insight into our star.”
EZIE is an investigation comprising a trio of CubeSats that will study the source of and changes in the auroral electrojet, an electric current circling through Earth’s atmosphere around 60-90 miles above the surface and extending into the Earth’s magnetosphere.
The interaction of the magnetosphere and the solar wind compresses the Sun-facing side of the magnetosphere and drags out the night-time side of the magnetosphere into what is called a “magnetotail.”
Auroral electrojets are generated by changes in the structure of the magnetotail. The same space weather phenomena that power the beautiful aurora can cause interference with radio and communication signals and utility grids on Earth’s surface, and damage to spacecraft in orbit.
“With these new missions, we’re expanding how we study the Sun, space, and Earth as an interconnected system,” said Peg Luce, deputy director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “EZIE’s use of instrument technology proven on Earth science CubeSat missions is just one example of how science and technology development at NASA go hand in hand across disciplines.”
Funding for these missions of opportunity comes from the Heliophysics Explorers Program, managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Here’s a great way to fulfill your New Year’s resolution to read more books – sign up for the Lake County Library’s Winter Reading Challenge which starts Jan. 5 and ends March 20.
January is a perfect time to catch up on all those great books you’ve been eager to read by challenging yourself to read more through the library this winter.
Everyone can participate – babies, toddlers, children, teens and adults are all welcome in the challenge. If your children don’t read on their own yet, you can still sign them up and read with them. If you don’t have a library card, it’s easy to get one by bringing your photo ID to your nearest library branch.
Once sign ups start on Jan. 5 you can register on our special Winter Reading Challenge website and at any time during the program.
Just head to the library website at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and click Winter Reading Challenge. Create an account for yourself and your family, register for the program that's right for you, and let the fun begin.
Once you’re signed up you can start reading books and logging your reading online to get points. You get points by logging your reading. Library staff can also log points over the phone or at your local branch.
When you log books, each book is worth 40 points. When you log pages, each page read is worth 1 point.
As you get more points you unlock digital badges, games, and activities. At 1,000 points you complete the reading log and the Friends of the Library will donate a book to the library. The book will have your name inside commemorating your achievement and you will be the first person to check it out.
March 20 is the last day to log points on your account.
You can also read eBooks or listen to audiobooks to participate. The library offers an array of digital eBooks and audiobooks through Hoopla, Overdrive and Enki, all accessible with your Lake County Library card.
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
