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Building upon the success of California’s first-in-the-nation earthquake alert system, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced, in partnership with Google, that the forthcoming update to the company’s Android operating system will incorporate California’s earthquake early warning technology into all Android phones.

The system will use the same data feed to receive and distribute alerts as the state’s Earthquake Early Warning System, which was announced by the governor and Office of Emergency Services last fall.

“It’s not every day that Silicon Valley looks to state government for state-of-the-art innovation, but that’s exactly what is happening today,” said Gov. Newsom. “This announcement means that California’s world-class Earthquake Early Warning System will be a standard function on every Android phone – giving millions precious seconds to drop, cover and hold on when the big one hits.”

Last October, on the 30th anniversary of the deadly Loma Prieta earthquake, Gov. Newsom announced the launch of the nation’s first statewide Earthquake Early Warning System, which marries a new smartphone application dubbed “MyShake” with traditional alert and warning delivery methods such as Wireless Emergency Alerts, or WEA.

“Google is building on what we have done with MyShake,” said Richard Allen, director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory and professor of earth and planetary science, who led the development of MyShake.

MyShake provides Californians with early warning of ground shaking through the ShakeAlert system, which was rolled out last year by the governor’s Office of Emergency Services in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey, UC Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology.

But the app also collects shaking data from cellphones and feeds it to UC Berkeley for analysis and research. Currently, MyShake has been downloaded by more than one million users around the world.

While the state’s application has been downloaded more than a million times since being launched, the new Google technology will automatically be included in millions of Android phones used in California, without the need to download a separate app.

Earthquake early warnings can come seconds to minutes before the ground begins to shake, giving MyShake users — and now Android users — time to duck, cover and hold on.

Warnings delivered through the system are based on a computerized program called ShakeAlert, operated by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services and the U.S. Geological Survey that analyzes data from seismic networks in California, calculates preliminary magnitudes, and then estimates which areas will feel shaking.

The ShakeAlert system more broadly gives the state’s businesses, utilities, first responders and others time to secure equipment, pause activities or shut off equipment that could be damaged or incapacitated in a quake — or that could cause injuries.

Allen and UC Berkeley researcher Qingkai Kong consulted with Google over the past year to help the company develop and implement the Android Earthquake Alerts System.

“It's a great project that allowed academic researchers to participate and help Google build the system,” Kong said. “It’s goal is to make an earthquake early warning system available globally that can benefit a lot of people and reduce a lot of casualties in the future. That is always the ultimate goal, to serve society and reduce earthquake hazards.”

Android’s built-in system works similarly to MyShake: Accelerometers in every phone detect shaking and send the data to Google, which uses massive processing to determine the pattern and estimate the spread of shaking.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Marc Stogaitis, a principal software engineer with Android at Google, noted, “We’re essentially racing the speed of light (which is roughly the speed at which signals from a phone travel) against the speed of an earthquake. And lucky for us, the speed of light is much faster!”

According to Kong, Android will only source ground-shaking data from phones that are plugged in and charging and have not moved for a fixed period of time, in order to weed out shaking due to normal movement or to being carried in a pocket or bag.

Allen is hopeful that what Google learns from its crowdsourced earthquake detection network will be applicable to the MyShake experiment, even if outsiders cannot access the data because of privacy concerns.

“Google has great resources, but they are behind a wall,” he said. “I hope we can continue our partnership, so that we can continue to make advances, some inside Google, from which we can learn and apply these lessons outside Google to improve early warning and also better understand earthquake processes.”

Earthquake-prone countries like Mexico and Japan have long had earthquake early warning systems, with alerts typically delivered through cell phones or public address systems. However, California is the first state in the nation to offer earthquake early warning.

Gov. Newsom and the Legislature made significant investments to fund disaster planning and preparedness – including earthquake early warning – in the 2019 Budget Act.

Last year’s enacted budget included $16.3 million one-time general fund to finish the build-out of the system, including finishing seismic stations installation, adding GPS stations to the network, improving telemetry and launching an education campaign.

The governor’s budget this year includes an additional allocation of $17.3 million, supported by a one-time loan of the same amount from the School Land Bank Fund, for full operation and maintenance of the system.

To learn more about earthquake preparedness and download the earthquake early warning application, visit www.earthquake.ca.gov .

NORTH COAST, Calif. – A bill authored by Sen. Mike McGuire that seeks to protect journalists from being physically attacked and detained has passed an Assembly committee.

Sen. Mike McGuire’s legislation, SB 629, which will enhance and extend access and protections to members of the media who are attending demonstrations in order to gather vital information, passed another hurdle last week with a 7-0 vote in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

“Members of the press risk their personal health and safety each time they attend protests or rallies to get the public the information they need and deserve. Rubber bullets, tear gas, and even detainment cannot be the new norm for an essential pillar of our nation’s democracy. California must lead the way to ensure the right of the press and the First Amendment are protected and held to the highest standard,” McGuire said. “SB 629 - The Press Freedom Act - will help ensure journalists can perform these critical roles while being protected under the law from any law enforcement officer intentionally assaulting, obstructing or interfering with their duties while they are gathering the news.”

Freedom of the press is one of the foundations upon which America was born. In 2020, that freedom has been under attack more than ever before.

According to the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Committee to Protect Journalists, there have been approximately 600 incidents in the United States of reported aggressions against the press in the last several months. These aggressions include detainments, arrests and attacks against members of the press attempting to do their jobs at First Amendment protests, marches and events.

During protests this year, reporters have been hit by rubber bullets, struck with batons, sprayed with tear gas, and detained by law enforcement, all while performing their critical role of documenting and informing the public of current events.

While California law allows reporters and members of the press to enter natural disaster emergency areas for the purpose of gathering information, these protections do not extend to first amendment protests, marches or events. SB 629 provides these protections.

The legislation is supported by the California News Publisher’s Association, The California Broadcasters Association, California Black Media, Impremedia, Ethnic Media Services and the First Amendment Coalition.

The legislation is co-authored by: Senators Dodd, Hertzberg, Hill, Wiener, Gonzalez, Portantino and Skinner and Assemblymember Wicks.

SB 629 will move to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, then to the Assembly floor for a full vote later this month.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Public Health reported that 20 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in county residents.

The Public Health COVID-19 dashboard showed on Monday that the local caseload had risen to 240, up from 220 from the last update on Friday.

Of those 240 cases confirmed on Monday, 25 are active, 213 are recovered and two have died, the dashboard showed. None currently are hospitalized.

Lake County’s positivity rate on Monday remained at 4.6 percent.

Public Health departments in the state’s 58 counties reported more than 574,000 cases and more than 10,470 deaths as of Monday night.

The California Department of Public Health said local health departments have reported 26,544 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 137 deaths statewide.

In Lake’s neighboring counties, the following numbers were reported on Monday: Colusa, 391 cases, four deaths; Glenn, 360 cases, three deaths; Mendocino, 472 cases, 10 deaths; Napa, 1,071 cases, 11 deaths; Sonoma, 3,753 cases, 50 deaths; and Yolo, 1,834 cases, 44 deaths.

To date, 7,777 tests have been completed in Lake County, Public Health reported. Statewide, there had been 8,998,353 tests conducted as of Monday, an increase of 172,234 over the prior 24-hour reporting period, the California Department of Public Health reported.

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.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council on Thursday reached consensus to pursue a salary increase for its members and supported having staff work on the implementation of a tobacco retail license program.

During public comment at the start of the meeting, city staff read numerous comments from residents of Pond Road who were concerned about the possible relocation of the city’s corporation yard to their neighborhood.

Earlier this year, after the council determined that a city-owned property on Ogulin Canyon Road wasn’t suitable for the corporation yard – currently located at the former Pearce Field airport property which the city wants to see used for a shopping center – the city began looking at other locations, including co-locating the yard at the Special Districts facility on Pond Road.

Pond Road residents who submitted comments raised issues with traffic, noise, lighting, crime and a host of other concerns.

City Manager Alan Flora told the council that city staff held a neighborhood meeting with residents, with both Mayor Russ Cremer and Vice Mayor Dirk Slooten in attendance, to hear their concerns.

“Just so all of you know, we’re looking at other additional sites within the city,” said Flora, nothing that when staff has an analysis prepared, they will bring the matter to the council for an agendized discussion.

The two main items on the agenda included a discussion requested by Councilman Phil Harris regarding raising council members' salaries. Harris, in his first term, is not seeking reelection this fall.

City Attorney Ryan Jones gave the council an overview of council compensation. “It is set very clearly in government code,” and is based on population size.

The current council salary is $300 per month, which was approved in 1989. While statute sets the maximum salary for cities with a population of fewer than 35,000 people at $300 per month, Jones said the state law also allows an annual salary adjustment of 5 percent per calendar year above that amount.

If the council wanted to catch up with the 5 percent for each of the past 31 years, it would raise total monthly salaries to $765, staff reported.

The written staff report from Flora and Jones said the city’s current total cost for council salaries is $18,000. They also get health care benefits, the total costs for which average between $30,000 and $40,000 per year.

If the council implemented the $765 per month stipend, total costs would increase from $18,000 to $45,900 or from $3,600 to $9,180 per year for each council member, Flora and Jones’ report said.

The increase wouldn’t go into effect until after the November general election, Jones said.

Harris asked if, beyond the stipend, there is the ability to provide the same benefits packages to council members as offered to employees. Jones said yes, and that some other councils also offer benefits like life insurance.

Harris said medical benefits are one aspect, and he also wanted life insurance and retirement to be considered.

Comments from community members on the item questioned whether it was wise to proceed.

“This does not seem like a good time to discuss an increase,” said local Realtor Dave Hughes in a letter to the council.

Others on the city’s Town Hall site questioned the raise, suggesting it wait a few years.

One city resident, Terry Stewart, said he thought the raise was “long overdue” and suggested that the compensation be doubled to $600. “I think this amount would be more in line with other small cities in our area, as compared with the maximum available increase.”

“We’re not necessarily doing it for ourselves, we’re doing it for the future,” said Councilwoman Joyce Overton.

Overton said it costs money to go to the council meeting, and during the discussion she said early in her council career she had considered quitting because of the out-of-pocket expenses, which she estimated totaled $60,000 in her first eight years.

“I think this is the wrong time to do this,” said Slooten.

Cremer said he agreed with Harris about the need to do it. “The cost of living has gone up,” he said, adding the council members aren’t going to get rich off the increased salary.

Harris suggested increasing the monthly salary for council members from $300 to $500. He said it’s a way of making sure they get the right people, who truly care, and not just those who have the means to serve. Overton agreed.

Harris, noting he wasn’t seeking reelection, said, “There’s an ongoing commitment I have to make sure the right people take the seats on the dais.” He added he wanted to make sure the city is reaching out to as many people as possible.

He suggested an increase to $500 per month, with the additional 5 percent raise per year.

Councilman Russ Perdock said he came to the meeting on the fence about the issue. He said when he was initially on the council and working on commission as an insurance agent, he lost a lot of money. At the same time, he said he thinks it’s a tough time to ask for a raise.

Cremer agreed with Harris on the $500 per month amount, calling it “reasonable” and saying it was supported by a League of California Cities analysis of city council salaries included in the staff report.

“I really believe this is the wrong time to do it,” said Slooten, noting local businesses are struggling. He said an additional $200 per month isn’t going to bring in higher quality people.

Jones ultimately received consensus from the council to bring the matter back. Jones said he will draft an ordinance with options and come back at the next meeting later this month.

“The council can decide at that point,” he said, noting the ordinance would need to pass two readings.

In other business, the council supported staff working to create a tobacco retail license program, with Flora reporting that there is grant funding available to implement it.

On Aug. 13, a moratorium expires which the council put in place on retail tobacco outlets like smoke shops and vapor lounges. Flora said that moratorium has been extended as long as it can.

During the discussion, Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said the county has discussed a similar program, but it’s been put on the backburner since Public Health – which was directing it – has been dealing instead with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Flora said funding should be available after the end of the year, and staff will bring back details to the council.

He said the staff had been waiting for funding availability to implement the program. “That’s why you’re seeing it now.”

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.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – New demographics data for Lake County’s COVID-19 cases shows continuing trends with regard to source, gender and communities having the largest caseloads.

The new demographic report is based on a total of 240 cases, the caseload Public Health reported on Monday. That’s a 32-case increase since the last data report on Aug. 10.

This week’s report shows that, once again, the category of close contacts to known cases – at 116, up by 11 from last week – continues to lead all other sources for how Lake County residents contract COVID-19.

Another 54 cases are classified as “under investigation,” up by three from last week; 33 cases are listed as “other/unknown,” up by 16; 24 are from out of county contacts, up by one; seven are presumed community transmission, up by one; four are presumed occupational contact, no change; and two are in a congregate living situation, specifically, the Lake County Jail, with no change since last week.

For gender, cases in females continue to lead, with 133, up by 20 over last week, compared to 107 in males, an increase of 12 cases.

Regarding age range, the largest number of cases continues to fall into the 25 to 34 age group, with 54 cases, up by six over the previous week.

Tied for second place at 40 cases are the 13 to 24 and 35 to 44 age groups, having risen by five and four cases, respectively; followed by age 45 to 54, 33 cases, up six; age 55 to 64, 30, up by two cases; age 65 and above, 22 cases, up by one; and birth to age 12, 21 cases, up by three.

The case breakdown by supervisorial district for the week is as follows:

– District 1, Middletown and the south county along with portions of Clearlake: 32 cases, an increase of nine over the week;
– District 2, Clearlake area: 91 cases, up by 12;
– District 3, Northshore area: 42 cases, up by six;
– District 4, greater Lakeport area: 35, up by two;
– District 5, Kelseyville, Loch Lomond and Cobb: 38 cases, up by two.
– Two cases are labeled as “unknown” for location, a decrease of one since last week.

The caseload breakdown by zip code shows, with the increased number over last week in parentheses, is as follows:

– 95422, Clearlake: 90 (12);
– 95453, Lakeport: 34 (2);
– 95451, Kelseyville: 34 (2);
– 95423, Clearlake Oaks: 15 (3);
– 95457, Lower Lake: 15 (2);
– 95467, Hidden Valley Lake, 11 (2);
– 95485, Upper Lake: 9 (no change);
– 95458, Lucerne: 9 (1);
– 95461, Middletown: 6 (5);
– 95464, Nice: 8 (2);
– 95426, Cobb: 4 (no change);
– 95435, Finley: 1 (no change);
– 95424, Clearlake Park: 1 (no change);
– 95493, Witter Springs, 1 (no change).
– Unknown: 2 (1).

Public Health will release its next demographics report on Monday, Aug. 17.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Parks and Recreation Committee will hold a special meeting this week to discuss items including plans for the city’s new Lakefront Park development.

The commission will meet via webinar beginning at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12.

The agenda can be found here.

To speak on an agenda item, access the meeting remotely here or join by phone by calling toll-free 877-309-2074 or 213-929-4221. The access code is 335-523-379; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.

Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the City Clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments prior to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12.

Indicate in the email subject line "for public comment" and list the item number of the agenda item that is the topic of the comment. Comments that read to the council will be subject to the three minute time limitation (approximately 350 words). Written comments that are only to be provided to the council and not read at the meeting will be distributed to the council prior to the meeting.

On the agenda is the review of proposed plans for the Lakefront Park design, with the commission to make recommendations to the Lakeport City Council.

Earlier this year, the city received a $5.9 million grant to develop the park, which will be located on land that includes the former Natural High School property in the 800 block of N. Main Street.

The commission also will receive an update on activities at the Silveira Community Center, the former Bank of America building on N. Main Street that is named for newly retired City Manager Margaret Silveira, whose work resulted in the building being donated to the city.

In other business, the commission will get updates on the Westside Community Park, completion of items for the city’s walking path and activities at Library Park.

The commission includes citizen members Suzanne Lyons, Jen Hanson, Cindy Ustrud, Ben Moore and Wayne Yahnke, and staff members including City Manager Kevin Ingram, Public Works Director Doug Grider, Parks Lead Worker Ron Ladd and Deputy City
Clerk/Secretary Hilary Britton.

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.