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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has seven cats waiting to go to new homes for the holidays.

This week’s cats are all adults, in a variety of sizes and coat types.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets there, hoping you'll choose them.

For those looking for a barn cat to keep the rodents at bay, be sure to ask about the barn cat adoption program. Feral barn cats are adopted out for $1 each, which includes altering, ear notching and vaccines.

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.

Female domestic medium hair

This female domestic medium hair cat has a brown tabby coat and gold eyes.

She is in kennel No. 1, ID No. 9037.

Female tuxedo cat

This female domestic short hair cat has a tuxedo coat and gold eyes.

She’s in kennel No. 9, ID No. 9031.

‘Miley’

“Miley” is a female domestic longhair cat with a gray tabby coat and green eyes.

She already has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 11, ID No. 9007.

‘Mookie’

“Mookie” is a male domestic longhair with a chocolate point-colored coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 55, ID No. 9008.

Female domestic short hair

This female domestic short hair has a black coat and gold eyes.

She already has been spayed.

She is in kennel No. 112, ID No. 9021.

Male domestic short hair

This male domestic short hair has a flame point and white coat and blue eyes.

He’s in kennel No. 129, ID No. 9070.

Male domestic short hair

This male domestic short hair has an orange tabby coat and gold eyes.

He’s in kennel No. 148, ID No. 9010.

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. – This year, the annual Clear Lake Christmas Bird Count, held by the Redbud Audubon Society, will be on Saturday, Dec. 16.

The Christmas Bird Count, or CBC, is a traditional project of Audubon societies around the country.

This is National Audubon's 118th Christmas Bird Count with all counts being held between the dates of Thursday, Dec. 14, through Friday, Jan. 5.

Each December birders gather to record every individual bird and species encountered during the day.

Each count group has a designated circle of 15 miles in diameter and tries to cover as much ground as possible within a certain period of time.

There is a specific methodology to the CBC, and all participants must make arrangements to participate in advance with the circle compiler within an established circle, but anyone can participate.

Count volunteers follow specified routes through the designated 15-mile – or 24-kilometer – diameter circle, counting every bird they see or hear all day.

It's not just a species tally – all birds are counted all day, giving an indication of the total number of birds in the circle that day.

If you are a beginning birder, you will be able to join a group that includes at least one experienced birdwatcher.

If your home is within the boundaries of a CBC circle, then you can stay at home and report the birds that visit your feeder on count day as long as you have made prior arrangements with the count compiler.

The data collected by each count group are then sent to the National Audubon Headquarters in New York and is made available online.

Redbud Audubon invites all birders and nature enthusiasts to join in the upcoming count. Birders of all skill levels are encouraged to participate.

This is Audubon’s longest running wintertime tradition and is the 43rd year the count has taken place in Lake County.

There will be two main groups that participants might wish to join – one will meet at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park and the other will meet at the visitor’s center parking lot at the Clear Lake State Park. Both groups will meet at 8 a.m. and continue through to early or mid-afternoon.

After the count, participants are invited to a pizza dinner at 5 p.m. at Kelseyville Pizza on State Street in Kelseyville to join in the count compilation where the tally of the day’s sightings is compiled.

Previous to the bird count, at the Thursday, Dec. 14, Redbud Audubon meeting at the Presbyterian Church Social Hall in Kelseyville Brad and Kathy Barnwell will present an extensive slide show and discussion of distinguishing features of birds that are often seen during the annual count.

The meeting is open to the public and visitors are encouraged to attend. It starts at 7 p.m.

If you are interested in participating in the bird count, call 707-263-8030, leave a message with your phone number, and someone will return your call.

The Christmas Bird Count began more than a century ago when 27 conservationists in 25 localities, led by scientist and writer Frank Chapman, changed the course of ornithological history.

On Christmas Day in 1900, the small group posed an alternative to the “side hunt,” a Christmas day activity in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds and small mammals.

Instead, Chapman proposed to identify, count, and record all the birds they saw, founding what is now considered to be the world’s most significant citizen-based conservation effort – and century-old institution.

Scientists rely on the remarkable trend data of Audubon’s CBC to better understand how birds and the environment are faring throughout North America – and what needs to be done to protect them.

Data from Audubon’s signature Citizen Science program are at the heart of numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies.

With all of the issues, including climate change and habitat loss, facing both local bird species and birds worldwide, there is no time like the present to start getting involved in local bird conservation and educating yourself about the numerous bird species we have right here in Lake County; the annual Christmas Bird Count is a fun way of doing this.

The Redbud Audubon Society is a local charitable organization affiliated with the National Audubon Society. The group holds monthly program meetings and field trips Sept. through May and presents the annual Heron Days event. For more information visit www.redbudaudubon.org.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Clear Lake State Park has received an early holiday gift from the Friends of the Lake County Library.

A Little Free Library was delivered to the park and will soon be installed in an area easily accessible to park visitors.

Little Free Libraries have been appearing across the nation as a way to promote reading for children and adults and to demonstrate the role public libraries play in that endeavor.

They work on the principle of “take a book, leave a book.”

The Friends of the Library decided that a Little Free Library in Clear Lake State Park would be a great way to support the mission of the Lake County Library and the park is happy to host it.

The Friends will keep the Little Free Library stocked for the reading enjoyment of park visitors and look forward to seeing what books are left in return. The next time you visit Clear Lake State Park, check it out.

This is a great time to support the Lake County Library.

The Friends are currently holding a fundraiser, running through Jan. 31. Donations made during this time, up to $5,000, will be matched dollar for dollar by the Friends. The goal is to raise $10,000 for the Library to use to purchase new books and materials.

Please send your tax-deductible donation to Friends of the Lake County Library at 1425 N. High St., Lakeport, CA 95453.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a group of big dogs ready to go to new homes this week.

The dogs offered adoption this week include mixes of border collie, boxer, pit bull, Rottweiler and shepherd.

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”).

Pit bull terrier

This male boxer has a tan and white coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 2, ID No. 8978.

Shepherd mix

This male shepherd mix has a long black coat with white markings.

He is in kennel No. 5, ID No. 9042.

Female pit bull

This female pit bull has a short black and white coat.

She’s in kennel No. 16, ID No. 9060.

Male pit bull

This male pit bull has a short brindle coat with white markings.

He’s in kennel No. 17, ID No. 9058.

Rottweiler-shepherd mix

This male Rottweiler-shepherd mix has a short brown and black coat.

He’s in kennel No. 27, ID No. 9033.

‘Lucy’

“Lucy” is a female border collie with a medium-length black and white coat.

She’s in kennel No. 28, ID No. 9025.

Male pit bull terrier

This male pit bull terrier has a short brown and white coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 29, ID No. 9003.

Male pit bull terrier

This male pit bull terrier has a short tan and white coat.

He already has been neutered.

Shelter staff said his adoption fees have been paid by an anonymous donor, so he is available for adoption to the first approved application.

He’s in kennel No. 30, ID No. 8936.

Male boxer

This male boxer has a short brown coat with white markings.

He’s in kennel No. 33, ID No. 9026.

‘Cooper’

“Cooper” is a male shepherd with a short brown and tan coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 34, ID No. 9024.

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.

If you tried to start a car that's been sitting in a garage for decades, you might not expect the engine to respond. But a set of thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft successfully fired up Wednesday after 37 years without use.

Voyager 1, NASA's farthest and fastest spacecraft, is the only human-made object in interstellar space, the environment between the stars.

The spacecraft, which has been flying for 40 years, relies on small devices called thrusters to orient itself so it can communicate with Earth.

These thrusters fire in tiny pulses, or "puffs," lasting mere milliseconds, to subtly rotate the spacecraft so that its antenna points at our planet. Now, the Voyager team is able to use a set of four backup thrusters, dormant since 1980.

"With these thrusters that are still functional after 37 years without use, we will be able to extend the life of the Voyager 1 spacecraft by two to three years," said Suzanne Dodd, project manager for Voyager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

Since 2014, engineers have noticed that the thrusters Voyager 1 has been using to orient the spacecraft, called "attitude control thrusters," have been degrading.

Over time, the thrusters require more puffs to give off the same amount of energy. At 13 billion miles from Earth, there's no mechanic shop nearby to get a tune-up.

The Voyager team assembled a group of propulsion experts at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, to study the problem.

Chris Jones, Robert Shotwell, Carl Guernsey and Todd Barber analyzed options and predicted how the spacecraft would respond in different scenarios. They agreed on an unusual solution: Try giving the job of orientation to a set of thrusters that had been asleep for 37 years.

“The Voyager flight team dug up decades-old data and examined the software that was coded in an outdated assembler language, to make sure we could safely test the thrusters," said Jones, chief engineer at JPL.

In the early days of the mission, Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter, Saturn, and important moons of each.

To accurately fly by and point the spacecraft's instruments at a smorgasbord of targets, engineers used "trajectory correction maneuver,” or TCM, thrusters that are identical in size and functionality to the attitude control thrusters, and are located on the back side of the spacecraft.

But because Voyager 1's last planetary encounter was Saturn, the Voyager team hadn't needed to use the TCM thrusters since Nov. 8, 1980. Back then, the TCM thrusters were used in a more continuous firing mode; they had never been used in the brief bursts necessary to orient the spacecraft.

All of Voyager's thrusters were developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne. The same kind of thruster, called the MR-103, flew on other NASA spacecraft as well, such as Cassini and Dawn.

On Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017, Voyager engineers fired up the four TCM thrusters for the first time in 37 years and tested their ability to orient the spacecraft using 10-millisecond pulses.

The team waited eagerly as the test results traveled through space, taking 19 hours and 35 minutes to reach an antenna in Goldstone, California, that is part of NASA's Deep Space Network.

Lo and behold, on Wednesday, Nov. 29, they learned the TCM thrusters worked perfectly -- and just as well as the attitude control thrusters.

“The Voyager team got more excited each time with each milestone in the thruster test. The mood was one of relief, joy and incredulity after witnessing these well-rested thrusters pick up the baton as if no time had passed at all," said Barber, a JPL propulsion engineer.

The plan going forward is to switch to the TCM thrusters in January. To make the change, Voyager has to turn on one heater per thruster, which requires power – a limited resource for the aging mission. When there is no longer enough power to operate the heaters, the team will switch back to the attitude control thrusters.

The thruster test went so well, the team will likely do a similar test on the TCM thrusters for Voyager 2, the twin spacecraft of Voyager 1. The attitude control thrusters currently used for Voyager 2 are not yet as degraded as Voyager 1's, however.

Voyager 2 is also on course to enter interstellar space, likely within the next few years.

The Voyager spacecraft were built by JPL, which continues to operate both. JPL is a division of Caltech in Pasadena. The Voyager missions are a part of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about the Voyager spacecraft, visit https://www.nasa.gov/voyager and https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov.

Elizabeth Landau works for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Authorities arrested a Kelseyville man on Friday for driving under the influence and hit and run after he fled the scene of a crash that left another driver with major injuries.

Cesar Arroyo Ceja, 22, was arrested following the wreck, which occurred shortly before 9:45 a.m. Friday on Highway 29 south of Bottle Rock Road, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office.

The CHP said Arroyo Ceja, driving a 2009 Dodge, was traveling southbound on Highway 29 in a left curve south of Bottle Rock Road when, due to his level of intoxication, he failed to negotiate the curve in the road and spun out of control within the curve.

The back of Arroyo Ceja’s vehicle collided with the front of a 1991 Toyota pickup driven by Lower Lake resident Douglas D. Anthony, 47, who the CHP said was traveling northbound through the same curve.

Immediately after the collision, Arroyo Ceja fled the scene in his badly damaged vehicle. The CHP said that after Arroyo Ceja traveled approximately half a mile south of the crash scene, he drove into a ditch adjacent to Highway 29’s west edge.

When CHP officers arrived at the crash scene, they found an off-duty paramedic attending to Anthony’s injuries, the CHP reported.

Anthony subsequently was flown via a REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for suspected serious head trauma, the CHP said.

The CHP report said Officer Rob Hearn then located Arroyo Ceja a short distance south of the crash scene.

When Hearn contacted Arroyo Ceja, he observed signs of alcohol intoxication and then performed an investigation for driving under the influence, the CHP said.

Hearn then arrested Arroyo Ceja for felony DUI and felony hit and run. The CHP said Arroyo Ceja was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital where he was cleared for booking.

Arroyo Ceja’s booking sheet at the Lake County Jail showed he was booked for three felonies, one for hit and run resulting in injury and two related to DUI causing bodily injury, with bail set at $50,000.

Jail records indicated he later posted the required percentage of bail and was released. He’s tentatively scheduled to appear in Lake County Superior Court on Feb. 8.

Arroyo Ceja was arrested for being drunk in public in February, according to arrest records.

The CHP said both drivers were wearing their seat belts at the time of the wreck.

Officer Hearn is leading the investigation into the Friday crash, the CHP 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.