News

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino College is pleased to invite the community to attend the 32nd annual Native American Motivation Day, which will be held in the Center for Visual and Performing Arts at the Ukiah campus on Friday, April 20, starting at 9 a.m.

The keynote speaker will be American Indian actor and model Dyami "Eagle" Thomas.

Thomas is an enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes in Oregon and a descendant of the Leech Lake Anishinabe in Minnesota. He is also a recipient of the National UNITY Organization’s prestigious 2016 class of "25 under 25" award.

Thomas, whose first love is theater, has acted in many theatrical productions, movies, public service announcements and commercials. He is also currently starring in the television series, “Runstone.”

He has always remained rooted in his culture’s traditions, and implements teachings from his Klamath and Anishinabe heritage into his everyday life.

Thomas also is a youth basketball coach, mentor, suicide prevention peer counselor and advocate for "Native Youth Leading Youth," a movement he started with his sister Rebecca in 2015.

This free event will provide an opportunity for American Indian students in grades six through 12 and community members to learn about Mendocino College programs and meet representatives from four year universities. Complimentary lunch will be provided.

For more information about Native American Motivation Day, please contact Native American Outreach Specialist Chantell Martinez at 707-468-3223 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Ukiah campus of Mendocino College is located at 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah.

BERKELEY, Calif. – UC Berkeley fossil researchers are using an exceptional stash of fossils found during the construction of a new East Bay dam to piece together a picture of what the Bay Area may have looked like some 15 to 20 million years ago.

Water covered much of the region, extending down the Central Valley as far as Bakersfield.

Ancient whales sifted food through baleen over what is now Berkeley and Oakland, while now-extinct megalodon sharks might have hunted dolphins over San Jose.

Hippo-like creatures waded along the coast, which was dotted with palm and pine trees. Seals, larger than today, frolicked in the water.

Researches have new evidence of all of this thanks to remarkable collection of at least 1,500 fossils that were found and preserved starting in 2013, when the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission began heavy excavation to construct a new dam to replace the existing 93-year old Calaveras Dam that is seismically vulnerable.

The massive project sent workers moving almost 10 million cubic yards of rocks and soil, where they unearthed one of the most complete collections of Bay Area fossils found in more than 50 years.

“We had expected to find some fossils during construction, but we had no idea the team would find this many,” said Dan Wade, SFPUC director of Water Infrastructure Capital Projects and Programs. “It was extremely important to us to keep the collection together, to keep them in the Bay Area, and to be able to make them available for scientific research.”

The fossils found their way to UC Berkeley’s Museum of Paleontology, which used a $500,000 contract with the PUC to re-open a mothballed fossil lab.

“Fossils are found all the time in the Bay Area, but the concentration of unique and varied specimens is what makes this special,” said Cristina Robins, a senior scientist at the Museum of Paleontology and head of the project to clean, catalog and study the fossils.

The first specimens, which include whale skulls, shark teeth, crab claws, snails and fossilized palm trees, were delivered to the lab from the dam site in the fall, and the work is expected to continue for at least another 18 months.

Already, Robins and her team have uncovered species of whale never before seen in the Bay Area.

The fossil record will eventually be made available online, and scientists anywhere will be able to use the fossils to better understand evolution, geology and global change. The museum also plans to develop educational materials that will be posted on its website.

Almost from the moment the dam replacement project started, construction crews and paleontologists working with the San Francisco PUC began finding fossils. News of the discovery attracted media attention in 2014; it was unclear then where the fossils would be stored.

Each fossil was carefully plotted on a map by paleontologists working the PUC and encased in a thick layer of plaster before eventually being hauled to the UC Berkeley lab for examination.

Technicians at the lab – all of them undergraduate and graduate students – spent hours removing the plaster cases with medical cast-cutting saws, and then carefully clearing away rock and sediment from around the fossils with powerful air chisels and dental tools.

The work can be laborious.

“They’ve been in their sediment for 15 million years, and they’re pretty content to stay there,” Robins said. “It has been a fight to get them out.”

Parts of the Calaveras Dam fossil find can be seen at Cal Day, this Saturday, April 21, on the UC Berkeley campus. The fossils will be on display in the “Fishbowl” of the Valley Life Sciences Building (Room 1101) behind the T-Rex from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Will Kane writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – On Tuesday the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said a DNA analysis has confirmed that a body found in the ocean near Westport on April 7 was one of the missing children of a Washington family killed in a crash late last month.

Sheriff’s Capt. Greg Van Patten said the agency’s coroner’s division was notified on Tuesday by the Richmond DNA laboratory that the body was that of 12-year-old Ciera Hart.

Van Patten said the sheriff’s office’s examination of legal documents led to them finding the legal spelling of the girl’s age and confirmation of her actual age. She previously had been believed to be 15 years old, with the spelling of her name given as Sierra.

The girl’s two adopted mothers, Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both age 38, and three of her siblings, Markis, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail, 14, all of Woodland, Wash., had been found dead at a crash site in the area of Juan Creek near Westport on March 26, as Lake County News has reported.

A passerby spotted their upturned GMC Yukon SUV at the base of a 100-foot cliff off a turnout along Highway 1.

At that time, the two women were found inside the vehicle while the three children were found outside of it. None had been wearing seat belts, and with no signs of braking or skid marks, the California Highway Patrol – which his conducting the crash investigation – has said it appeared to have been an intentional crash.

Last week the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office also reported that Jennifer Hart had a blood alcohol limit of 0.10, which surpasses California’s legal drunk driving limit, and that Sarah Hart and two of the children had a positive toxicology finding in their blood for diphenhydramine, an active ingredient in Benadryl.

At the time of the crash’s discovery, all but three of the family members were found. Ciera, her sister, Hannah, 16, and brother Devonte, 15, were missing.

Authorities had concluded the entire family was traveling together and that the missing three children possibly had gone into the water at the time of the crash.

Since the crash exhaustive searches have been conducted of the coastline looking for the three children.

Then, on April 7, authorities responded to a report of a black female whose body was found in the surf not far from the crash site, as Lake County News has reported.

Due to the condition of the body the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Division enlisted the assistance of the California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services Richmond DNA laboratory in identifying the body, Van Patten said.

With the child now identified, Van Patten said autopsy results – including blood alcohol and toxicology analysis – are pending.

The search for Devonte and Hannah Hart also is continuing, authorities said.

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. – Superintendent April Leiferman and key team members from the Lakeport Unified School District recently visited Big Valley Rancheria Boys and Girls Club to actively engage parents and students in dialogue about how to improve education in Lakeport schools.

Stakeholder engagement is an important component of the Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP.

In an effort to obtain more equitable input from all education stakeholders, Leiferman decided it would be more effective to take a team to where the parents are, instead of asking the parents to come to them.

Lakeport Unified Board members Phil Kirby and Lori Holmes, Terrace Middle School Principal Rachel Paarsch and Lakeport Unified Family Advocate Schad Schweitzer joined Leiferman in this team effort.

Leiferman began the evening with a presentation focused on the “California Way,” the strategic plan the California Department of Education has set forth to improve schools.

She also explained the California Dashboard, a Web site where parents can see how their children’s schools are performing.

The evening wrapped up with a round table discussion on potential improvements and solutions to the concerns that were voiced.

“A lot of great ideas and suggestions came out of the conversation,” said Leiferman.

Topics discussed included spotty Internet service on the reservation; not enough computers; transportation issues; and how to take a more positive approach to discipline.

“I’m excited to work with the LUSD team and Big Valley Rancheria stakeholders to find solutions to these issues,” Leiferman said.

A very important takeaway from the meeting was increased support for the students from Kristin Amparo, Boys & Girls Club director, Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians.

Amparo is working to obtain permission slips from tribal parents, which will allow her to check their students’ progress such as grades and attendance through the “Aeries Portal.” Aeries is the software system that Lakeport Unified utilizes to track student data that must be reported to the state.

Leiferman said that they are working to provide Amparo with office space on the LUSD campus with Schwietzer, so that she can meet with students and parents on campus.

This Family Resource Center will be a place for parents to receive support services from the family liaison, district nurse, tribal education liaisons, and other support services. Leiferman will coordinate with all tribal liaisons to provide the same services for all native students.

The Lakeport team was excited about the outcome of the evening.

“We hope that this is just the beginning of more meetings to increase our stakeholder engagement, which in turn will allow us to serve our Lakeport Unified School District students better,” said Leiferman.

The LCAP is a three-year plan for each district, which spells out goals and progress indicators; stakeholder engagement; and action, services and expenditures.

Each district is required to create an LCAP in order to receive state funding.

California law requires that each school district post their LCAP on their Web sites. Lakeport Unified’s LCAP is located at www.lakeport.k12.ca.us.

Jill Ruzicka is communications coordinator for the Lake County Office of Education.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Come and celebrate Earth Day at the Lake County Campus of Woodland College on Thursday, April 19, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The festival is sponsored by the Associated Students and is free of charge.

Explore local environmental resources, green practices and outdoor living. Enjoy music, poetry, crafts, flower planting for preschoolers, plant and wildlife identification activities as well as booths featuring the Sierra Club, Konocti Trails, Lake County Land Trust, Lake Audubon and more.

At 11 a.m. and again at noon, Shelly Ryan, trained by Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, will host a slide presentation: “Climate Reality – A Looming Threat or an Opportunity for Change.”

Earth Day mugs will be available for purchase to help raise funds for book scholarships, and Aromas Café will be selling items from a special menu. Additional prizes will be given away throughout the event.

The Associated Students invite local environmental resource groups interested in hosting a booth at the event to contact Danielle Stennet at the Lake County Campus administration office by calling 707-995-7900.

The college is located at 15880 Dam Road Extension in Clearlake.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The city of Clearlake is still accepting applications for the open position on the Clearlake Planning Commission, but the deadline is coming up this week.

Planning commissioners are appointed by the Clearlake City Council to review matters related to planning and development.

Recent issues have included the general plan update; a service station expansion; commercial cannabis; large family day-care centers; commercial signage; and much more.

Upcoming issues anticipated for discussion at the Planning Commission include commercial cannabis; proposed motel expansion plans; proposed transitional housing; a proposed market-rate housing project; and an update to the city’s zoning code and design review manual.

“If you have an interest in the growth of Clearlake, this is a great time to be a part of the planning commission,” said City Manager Greg Folsom. “The Big 5 and Tractor Supply Company projects are being built out and development interest in our city is starting to increase.”

The Planning Commission meets on the first and third Tuesdays. Applicants must be a resident in the city of Clearlake in order to be appointed to the planning commission.

Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 18.

The Clearlake City Council will consider appointing an applicant at its April 26 meeting.

For more information and an application visit https://ca-clearlake.civicplus.com/151/Planning-Commission .