News

LUCERNE, Calif. – A joint meeting of all three town hall advisory councils within District 3 is scheduled for Friday, March 16.

The meeting will take place beginnings at 6 p.m. at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, 3985 Country Club Drive.

The purpose of the joint town hall is to take public input and explore possible solutions to the problems of trash in District 3 neighborhoods and the backcountry.

One method could be universal garbage collection services such as used in the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport.

County staff will be on hand and there will be time for questions and answers with staff and Supervisor Jim Steele, who represents the Northshore.

“Complaints about trash problems in neighborhoods and in the backcountry are among the most persistent complaints I receive; only 40 percent of District 3 residents have their garbage picked up,” said Steele.

“This is an important meeting to obtain community feedback on whether we should require that all households maintain garbage collection services or explore other solutions,” he added.

This meeting is in lieu of the regular March meetings for the councils.

The three town hall advisory councils in District 3 will resume their regular meeting schedules in April.

For more information about town hall meetings in District 3 watch for announcements or contact Supervisor Jim Steele at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

You can also find town hall meeting dates and updates on Facebook at North Shore Town Halls, Lake County District 3.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – It is still a great time to support your library.

In November, the Friends of the Lake County Library announced a fundraiser with the goal of raising $10,000 by Jan. 31.

The Friends want to raise $5,000 in donations which they will match, thereby having $10,000 to donate to the library for the purchase of books and materials.

At the end of January, the Friends were just over halfway to their goal. So it was decided at a recent meeting to extend the deadline of the fundraiser until March 31.

State funding for libraries over the last several years has been at an all-time low, leaving the Lake County Library to rely on the funding it receives from the small portion of county property taxes dedicated to the library.

Over the years, the Friends organization has worked to raise money to supplement the library budget with membership drives, book sales and donations.

With the loss of state funding and the pressure on property taxes due to recent fires, this mission has become more critical and led to this fundraising idea.

With its branches in Clearlake (Redbud), Middletown, Upper Lake and Lakeport, our county library system is a community asset that enriches the entire county.

Along with our parks, schools, museums, arts organizations and local media, the library system provides the educational opportunities and cultural enjoyment that make Lake County a place that we all want to live.

To help the Friends make this a successful fundraiser mail checks made payable to the Friends of the Lake County Library (a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization) to 1425 N. High St., Lakeport, CA 95453.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a number of new dogs this week available immediately to new homes.

The dogs offered adoption this week include mixes of border collie, German Shepherd, golden retriever, greyhound, husky, Labrador Retriever, pit bull, Rottweiler, Schipperke and 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.

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”).

Terrier-Schipperke mix

This male terrier-Schipperke mix has a medium-length tan coat.

He’s in kennel No. 3, ID No. 9534.

Husky mix

This male husky mix has a medium-length black and brindle coat.

He’s in kennel No. 5, ID No. 9532.

Female border collie

This female border collie has a short black and white coat.

She’s in kennel No. 6a, ID No. 9533.

‘Brisa’

“Brisa” is a female German Shepherd mix.

She has a medium-length black and tan coat, and already has been altered.

She is very sweet.

Brisa is in kennel No. 7, ID No. 9527.

‘Rowdy’

“Rowdy” is a female greyhound-Labrador Retriever mix.

She has a short black coat with white markings, and already has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 8, ID No. 9523.

Male Labrador Retriever

This male Labrador Retriever has a short black coat.

He’s in kennel No. 9, ID No. 9546.

Male golden retriever

This adult male golden retriever has a medium-length golden coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in quarantine kennel No. 19, ID No. 9302.

‘Baby’

“Baby” is a female pit bull terrier with a short fawn coat.

She already has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 23, ID No. 9501.

Female pit bull

This young female pit bull has a short blue and fawn coat.

She is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 9465.

Male pit bull

This male pit bull has a short blue and white coat.

Shelter staff said he is super sweet and bubbly.

He’s in kennel No. 27, ID No. 9480.

‘BamBam’

“BamBam” is a male Rottweiler mix.

He has a short tricolor coat.

He’s in kennel No. 33, ID No. 9517.

‘Kali’

“Kali” is a female pit bull with a short red coat.

She’s in kennel No. 34, ID No. 9516.

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.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm.

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.

From the ground, the dance of the northern lights, or aurora borealis, can look peaceful. But those shimmering sheets of colored lights are the product of violent collisions between Earth’s atmosphere and particles from the Sun.

The beautiful lights are just the visible product of these collisions – the kinetic and thermal energy released, invisible to the naked eye, are no less important.

Understanding the contribution that aurora make to the total amount of energy that enters and leaves Earth’s geospace system – referred to as auroral forcing – is one of the major goals of the NASA-funded Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment, or AZURE.

The more we learn about auroras, the more we understand about the fundamental processes that drive near-Earth space – a region that is increasingly part of the human domain, home not only to astronauts but also communications and GPS signals that can affect those of us on the ground on a daily basis.

AZURE is the first of eight sounding rocket missions launching over the next two years as part of an international collaboration of scientists known as The Grand Challenge Initiative – Cusp.

These missions will launch from the Andøya and Svalbard rocket ranges in Norway to study the processes occurring inside the Earth’s polar cusp – where the planet’s magnetic field lines bend down into the atmosphere and allow particles from space to intermingle with those of Earthly origin – and nearby auroral oval, which AZURE will focus on.

AZURE will study the flow of particles in the ionosphere, the electrically charged layer of the atmosphere that acts as Earth’s interface to space, focusing specifically on the E and F regions.

The E region – so-named by early radio pioneers that discovered the region was electrically charged, and so could reflect radio waves – lies between 56 to 93 miles above Earth’s surface. The F region resides just above it, between 93 to 310 miles altitude.

The E and F regions contain free electrons that have been ejected from their atoms by the energizing input of the Sun’s rays, a process called photoionization.

After nightfall, without the energizing input of the Sun to keep them separated, electrons recombine with the positively charged ions they left behind, lowering the regions’ overall electron density. The daily cycle of ionization and recombination makes the E and F regions especially turbulent and complex.

AZURE will focus specifically on measuring the vertical winds in these regions, which create a tumultuous particle soup that re-distributes the energy, momentum and chemical constituents of the atmosphere.

Existing wind measurements from ground-based instruments show evidence of significant structure at scales between 6 miles and 60 miles wide in both the charged particle drifts and the neutral winds.

But so far, the in-situ scientific measurements of winds have been limited to a small set of altitudes – and already those measurements don’t fit with what we would have predicted.

To better understand the forces at play, in early March the AZURE team will launch two sounding rockets near-simultaneously from the Andøya Space Center in Norway.

Waiting to launch until the conditions are just right, the rockets will fly up into space, making measurements of the atmospheric density and temperature with instruments on the rockets and deploying visible tracers, trimethyl aluminum and a barium/strontium mixture, which ionizes when exposed to sunlight.

These mixtures create colorful clouds that allow researchers to track the flow of neutral and charged particles, respectively. The tracers will be released at altitudes 71 to 155 miles high and pose no hazard to residents in the region.

By tracking the movement of these colorful clouds via ground-based photography and triangulating their moment-by-moment position in three dimensions, AZURE will provide valuable data on the vertical and horizontal flow of particles in two key regions of the ionosphere over a range of different altitudes.

Such measurements are critical if we are to truly understand the effects of the mysterious yet beautiful aurora. The results will be key to a better understanding of the effects of auroral forcing on the atmosphere, including how and where the auroral energy is deposited.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – State officials this week denied parole to a Mendocino County man convicted of torturing his ex-girlfriend by setting her on fire in 2001.

The California Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for the fifth time to Gregory Patrick Beck, 55, at a six-hour hearing on Tuesday at Soledad Correctional Training Facility.

The parole board denied Beck's bid for release based on his continuing evasiveness, his minimizing of what he did and his "need to come to terms with the truth,” according to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.

Beck was convicted in 2002 of gravely injuring Sherry Carlton, age 32 at the time of the attack, by means of torture, assault with caustic chemicals and corporal injury on a cohabitant.

In 2001 Carlton had moved out of the home she shared with Beck. The two had been together for 12 years and had a child.

When she went back to the home they had shared to pick up some of her belongings, Beck soaked her with lighter fluid and set her on fire, refused to give her help then tried to cover up his crime in order to make it look like a barbecue-related accident.

The case was prosecuted by then-Deputy District Attorney Rick Martin, who in 2005 became a Lake County Superior Court judge.

At trial, Martin presented evidence including Carlton’s 911 phone call in which she told the dispatcher that Beck “sprayed lighter fluid all over me” and that he tried to murder her.

Carlton was left disfigured, unable to walk, speak or care for herself. She remained in a Lake County care facility until her death in March 2016.

Her parents, Phyllis Kline and Jeffrey Carlton, attended the Tuesday hearing. Kline said she also was accompanied by a cousin who acted as her support person.

Kline went armed with 150 signatures on paper petitions and approximately 51,272 signatures in an online petition against Beck’s release: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/328/208/588/refuse-parole-to-convicted-torturer-gregory-patrick-beck-cdc-t61119/.

“We were very anxious,” Kline told Lake County News.

She credited Mendocino County Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Norman, who attended the hearing to argue against Beck’s release, and the parole commissioners for their work.

“They were so thorough, professional, and possessed an incredible insight of Beck's issues,” said Kline, who has called Beck “absolutely evil.”

Kline recognized the prison staff for their understanding and caring for her and her family throughout the seven hours they were at the prison.

Beck has been refused parole before due to the board concluding that he has failed to take responsibility for the attack and has not succeeded in the rehabilitation process.

Norman said the parole board ruled it will be another five years before Beck is eligible for another hearing.

"We wished it had been another 10 years but we are satisfied the board saw Beck still hasn't accepted the horrific crime he committed,” Norman 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. – Book to Action, the Lake County Library’s community-wide reading program, will feature “Braving the Wilderness: the Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone” by Breneì Brown.

Free copies of “Braving the Wilderness” and the Book to Action event calendar will be available to pick up at all Lake County Library branches beginning March 6.

The Book to Action discussions and events will happen in April.

Lake County Library is one of 20 libraries across the state that won the Book to Action grant from the California Center for the Book. This is the third year that Lake County has done this program.

The California Center for the Book is a program of the California Library Association, supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.

Book to Action is an exciting program that builds on the classic book club concept by creating a dynamic series of events.

Along with discussing an engaging book on a current topic, libraries across the state will be hosting events that help people put their new-found knowledge into action by collaborating on a community service project or civic engagement activity related to the book’s topic

The book was chosen because it is a down-to-earth guide to achieving a healthy connection with one’s community.

JoAnn Saccato, local author and mindfulness teacher, is helping to develop the Book to Action events.

On the selection of the this book she said, “At this crucial time when our public conversation is rife with increasing polarization, discord and unrest, meaningful conversation around the vital issues we grapple with as a community and nation is desperately needed to find peaceful, lasting solutions.”

In “Braving the Wilderness,” Brown redefines what it means to belong in an age of increased polarization.

Using research, storytelling and her own personal stories, Brown changes the cultural conversation while mapping a clear path to achieving a sense of what she calls true belonging.

“Author Breneì Brown offers us an opportunity to forge an authentic and meaningful path to these solutions that brings dignity, civility, authenticity and bravery back to the town square,” Saccato said. “Brown argues that we're in a ‘spiritual crisis of disconnection’ and invites us to not only dig deeper and embrace our own sacred truth, but to courageously bring that truth to community – even if we stand alone in it.”

Lake County’s Book to Action events will begin with book discussions at each of the library branches on April 7 at 2 p.m. Lakeport Library is located at 1425 N. High St., Redbud Library at 14785 Burns Valley Road in Clearlake, Middletown Library at 21256 Washington St and Upper Lake Library at 310 Second St.

The events continue with a screening of the Breneì Brown’s TED Talk “The Power of Vulnerability” on April 14 at 2 p.m. at the Lakeport Library.

Saccato will lead a free workshop and discussion of “Braving the Wilderness” on April 21 at 2 p.m. at Lakeport Library.

This workshop will be a discussion around each of the four strategies put forth by Brown, namely: “People are hard to hate close up. Move in.” “Speak truth to BS. Be civil.” “Hold hands. With strangers.” “Strong back. Soft front. Wild heart.”

It will encourage conversation around the validity and value of Brown's ideas as a strategy to return to passionate and respectful civil discourse.

The workshop agenda will set ground rules around safety and civility, then take each topic separately.

Saccato’s workshop will take the work as a whole as a turning point to invite participation in the "Hold hands. With strangers" community conversation on March 28 at 2 p.m. at Lakeport Library. The conversation is the final event in the 2018 Book to Action program.

The Lake County Library is on the internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and http://library.lakecountyca.gov, and Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary.

For more information call the library at 707-263-8817.

Jan Cook is a technician with the Lake County Library.