NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – State Sen. Mike McGuire’s landmark legislation setting statewide emergency alert protocols and regulation has been approved with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of the State Senate.
“California is facing a new normal, the size and scope of wildland fires are getting worse. Lives depend on the Legislature and Governor taking swift action to ensure statewide emergency alert standards are adopted, training for local emergency managers is implemented and we invest in a more proactive and effective mutual aid response system. The safety of our communities depends on it,” Sen. McGuire said.
The legislation, B 833, was introduced by Sen. McGuire, along with joint authors, Senators Bill Dodd and Jerry Hill, and principal co-authors Assemblymembers Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Marc Levine and Jim Wood.
It will create statewide emergency alert standards for the first time in history for all of California’s 58 counties.
SB 833 will establish and mandate statewide emergency evacuation alert protocols for the first time in California history using the federal integrated public alert and warning system, or IPAWS, as the backbone.
The legislation will also mandate annual training for local emergency managers on how to best utilize the software and how to deploy alerts, require that alerts be sent out via landline telephones and mobile phones along with other communication mediums including radio, television and electronic highway billboards.
The North Bay Firestorm destroyed more than 6,000 homes, scorched more than 170,000 acres, caused billions in damage, and resulted in the death of more than 40 residents.
“The night of October 8 changed the lives of North Bay residents forever, when tens of thousands of residents were caught unaware that a massive wildland fire was about to engulf their home or business, because they did not receive an emergency alert,” Sen. McGuire said. “While there are hundreds of harrowing stories of bravery that night, regrettably, thousands of residents never received a warning.”
SB 833 was approved by the State Senate with a 39 to 0 vote. The bill now heads to the State Assembly for approval. The bill is supported by California Professional Firefighters, California Fire Chiefs, RCRC, the League of Cities and many others.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has four dogs waiting for homes this week.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Chihuahua, hound and pit bull.
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.
If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
This young female hound is in kennel No. 10, ID No. 10132. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Hound pup
This young female hound has a short tricolor coat.
She’s in kennel No. 10, ID No. 10132.
“Buddy” is a male Chihuahua in kennel No. 15a, ID No. 10141. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Buddy’
“Buddy” is a male Chihuahua with a short brown coat.
He’s in kennel No. 15a, ID No. 10141.
“Misty” is a female Chihuahua in kennel No. 15c, ID No. 10143. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Misty’
“Misty” is a female Chihuahua with a long red coat.
She already is spayed.
She’s in kennel No. 15c, ID No. 10143.
“Leah” is a female pit bull terrier in kennel No. 24, ID No. 10124. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Leah’
“Leah” is a female pit bull terrier with a short black and white coat.
She already has been spayed.
She’s in kennel No. 24, ID No. 10124.
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
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.
This low-angle self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the site from which it reached down to drill into a rock target called "Buckskin" on lower Mount Sharp. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. NASA’s Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current life on the Red Planet.
While not necessarily evidence of life itself, these findings are a good sign for future missions exploring the planet’s surface and subsurface.
The new findings – “tough” organic molecules in three-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks near the surface, as well as seasonal variations in the levels of methane in the atmosphere – appear in the June 8 edition of the journal Science.
Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. While commonly associated with life, organic molecules also can be created by non-biological processes and are not necessarily indicators of life.
“With these new findings, Mars is telling us to stay the course and keep searching for evidence of life,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, in Washington. “I’m confident that our ongoing and planned missions will unlock even more breathtaking discoveries on the Red Planet.”
“Curiosity has not determined the source of the organic molecules,” said Jen Eigenbrode of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who is lead author of one of the two new Science papers. “Whether it holds a record of ancient life, was food for life, or has existed in the absence of life, organic matter in Martian materials holds chemical clues to planetary conditions and processes.”
Although the surface of Mars is inhospitable today, there is clear evidence that in the distant past, the Martian climate allowed liquid water – an essential ingredient for life as we know it – to pool at the surface.
Data from Curiosity reveal that billions of years ago, a water lake inside Gale Crater held all the ingredients necessary for life, including chemical building blocks and energy sources.
“The Martian surface is exposed to radiation from space. Both radiation and harsh chemicals break down organic matter,” said Eigenbrode. “Finding ancient organic molecules in the top five centimeters of rock that was deposited when Mars may have been habitable, bodes well for us to learn the story of organic molecules on Mars with future missions that will drill deeper.”
Seasonal methane releases
In the second paper, scientists describe the discovery of seasonal variations in methane in the Martian atmosphere over the course of nearly three Mars years, which is almost six Earth years. This variation was detected by Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite.
Water-rock chemistry might have generated the methane, but scientists cannot rule out the possibility of biological origins. Methane previously had been detected in Mars' atmosphere in large, unpredictable plumes. This new result shows that low levels of methane within Gale Crater repeatedly peak in warm, summer months and drop in the winter every year.
"This is the first time we've seen something repeatable in the methane story, so it offers us a handle in understanding it," said Chris Webster of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, in Pasadena, California, lead author of the second paper. "This is all possible because of Curiosity's longevity. The long duration has allowed us to see the patterns in this seasonal 'breathing.'"
Finding organic molecules
To identify organic material in the Martian soil, Curiosity drilled into sedimentary rocks known as mudstone from four areas in Gale Crater.
This mudstone gradually formed billions of years ago from silt that accumulated at the bottom of the ancient lake.
The rock samples were analyzed by SAM, which uses an oven to heat the samples (in excess of 900 degrees Fahrenheit, or 500 degrees Celsius) to release organic molecules from the powdered rock.
SAM measured small organic molecules that came off the mudstone sample – fragments of larger organic molecules that don’t vaporize easily.
Some of these fragments contain sulfur, which could have helped preserve them in the same way sulfur is used to make car tires more durable, according to Eigenbrode.
The results also indicate organic carbon concentrations on the order of 10 parts per million or more. This is close to the amount observed in Martian meteorites and about 100 times greater than prior detections of organic carbon on Mars’ surface.
Some of the molecules identified include thiophenes, benzene, toluene, and small carbon chains, such as propane or butene.
In 2013, SAM detected some organic molecules containing chlorine in rocks at the deepest point in the crater. This new discovery builds on the inventory of molecules detected in the ancient lake sediments on Mars and helps explains why they were preserved.
Finding methane in the atmosphere and ancient carbon preserved on the surface gives scientists confidence that NASA's Mars 2020 rover and ESA’s (European Space Agency's) ExoMars rover will find even more organics, both on the surface and in the shallow subsurface.
These results also inform scientists’ decisions as they work to find answers to questions concerning the possibility of life on Mars.
“Are there signs of life on Mars?” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, at NASA Headquarters. “We don’t know, but these results tell us we are on the right track.”
This work was funded by NASA's Mars Exploration Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in Washington. Goddard provided the SAM instrument. JPL built the rover and manages the project for SMD.
For video and images of the findings, visit https://www.nasa.gov/mediaresources .
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A Middletown woman died and two Lakeport men were seriously injured in a Thursday evening head-on crash near Middletown.
Lottie Marie Cline, 63, died in the Thursday night wreck, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office.
Two Lakeport men, Roberto C. V. Gonzalez, 39, and Victor M. Villaneuva, 32, were in the other vehicle involved in the crash and suffered moderate injuries, the CHP said.
The agency said that just before 6:30 p.m. Thursday Cline was driving a 2006 Honda Odyssey minivan southbound on Highway 29 north of Butts Canyon Road while Gonzalez was driving a 2005 Ford F-350 pickup northbound in the same location.
The CHP said Cline’s Honda crossed over the highway’s solid double-yellow lines and collided head-on with the pickup Gonzalez was driving.
Cline died at the scene of the injuries she sustained in the wreck, authorities reported.
Gonzalez and Villaneuva were flown by REACH air ambulances to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment of their injuries, according to the CHP and reports from the scene.
The CHP said Cline, Gonzalez and Villaneuva were all wearing their seat belts.
Neither drugs nor alcohol are suspected to be factors in the wreck, which the CHP said remains under investigation.
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 Friends of the Lake County Library this week presented the fruits of a recent major fundraising effort to the county of Lake.
At the Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting, the group’s president, Debbie Zacharisen, presented a check for $8,590 to Lake County Librarian Christopher Veach and Supervisor Tina Scott.
The funds are thanks to the generosity of community members, including many county businesses, who responded to the group’s letter writing fundraising effort this past fall and winter.
The Friends matched the donations received and presented a check for $8,590 to be used for the purchase of books and other library materials for all of the library branches.
The Friends of the Lake County Library is a 501c3 volunteer organization dedicated to raising money for our county library system.
State funding for libraries is very low and the library budget is dependent on the county general fund which is severely stretched.
You can help by purchasing a membership in the Friends of the Library; purchasing books from the ongoing book sale that the Friends operate in the lobby of the library; by your donation of used books in excellent condition for re-sale; and by cash donations.
The library uses the funds raised to purchase library materials; supplies for the wonderful children’s and teen programs they provide; engaging programming for adults and more.
The Friends welcome new active members who would like to participate in fundraising efforts.
Monthly meetings are held the fourth Wednesday of each month at 10 a.m. at the library and all are welcome.
You can pick up a membership application the next time you are in the library or find one at http://www.friendsofthelakecountylibrary.org. You can also follow the group on Facebook at Friends of the Lake County Library.
The Amaral-Galli family at their new home in Clearlake, Calif., on Saturday, June 4, 2018, along with Habitat for Humanity Lake County staff and volunteers. Courtesy photo. CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Habitat for Humanity has celebrated the dedication of another home.
On Saturday, June 4, the Amaral-Galli family was welcomed into their new Clearlake home by family, friends, and Habitat volunteers and staff.
“It’s hard to believe this is real,” said Cynthia Amaral-Galli. “We are so grateful for an opportunity we never thought we’d have. The first few nights sleeping in our own place, where we’re not crowded, have been so wonderful. Our daughter finally has her own room. We can’t thank everyone enough.”
If you are a low-income household and would like to explore the qualifications for Habitat’s first-time homebuyer program and would like an application, please call 707-994-1100, Extension 106, or come by the office at 15312 Lakeshore Drive for a pre-application.
Also, if you were displaced by any of Lake County’s wildfires of the last three years, Habitat for Humanity may be able to help. Habitat is always taking applications and the staff would be happy to answer your questions and offer assistance.
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