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LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Aug. 3, the Meals on Wheels Thrift Store will hold its annual half-price sale.
The sale will begin when the doors open at 9 a.m.
Items will be clearance marked at 50-percent off and the inventory includes furniture, household goods, clothing, collectibles and other items.
The annual sale benefits both the Lakeport Senior Activity Center and Operation Tango Mike.
The center provides meals, hosts events and provides class and activities for seniors.
Operation Tango Mike is a local, all-volunteer effort that has been shipping monthly care packages to deployed military personnel for more than 13 years.
A share of proceeds from the sale will purchase care package supplies and pay shipping fees.
The Meal on Wheels Thrift Store is located at 120 N. Main St. in Lakeport, telephone 707-263-6174.
Operation Tango Mike can be reached at 707-349-2838 or
The California Independent System Operation (CAISO) has declared a statewide Flex Alert, calling for conservation through the evening of Thursday, July 28, due to high energy demand during this period of extreme heat.
The ISO is asking for energy conservation, particularly during peak hours between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m.
PG&E urges our customers to conserve energy use during the late afternoon and evening when air conditioners drive consumption to the highest point.
Helpful tips include:
· Adjust your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher or turn it off if you will be away from home.
· Switch off the lights when you leave a room.
· Keep refrigerator full (with bottles of water if nothing else) and unplug the second refrigerator.
· Avoid using appliances during the peak hours of the afternoon and evening, preferably after 9 p.m.
· Reset your pool pump to run during off peak hours.
· For more information about Flex Alerts, visit: http://www.caiso.com/about/Pages/News/FlexAlertTips.aspx .
· For more energy savings tips, visit: http://www.pge.com/en/myhome/saveenergymoney/plans/rateupdates/tips/index.page? .
PG&E thanks our customers for their conservation efforts which will help the ISO maintain grid reliability.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Roy Zimmerman will bring his guitar and wonderful collection of not-so-politically correct songs to perform in concert on Sunday, July 31.
The concert will begin at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Community of Lake County/Kelseyville Methodist Church at 3810 Main St.
"This Machine" is 90 minutes of Roy Zimmerman's hilarious, rhyme-intensive original songs. The title is a reference to Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger to be sure, but also an acknowledgement that songwriting does good work in the world.
“Sometimes I think satire is the most hopeful and heartfelt form of expression,” said Zimmerman, “because in calling out the world's absurdities and laughing in their face, I'm affirming the real possibility of change.”
Zimmerman’s songs have been heard on HBO and Showtime. He's shared stages with Bill Maher, Robin Williams, Ellen DeGeneres, John Oliver, Kate Clinton and George Carlin. He's been profiled on NPR's "All Things Considered," and he's a featured blogger for the Huffington Post.
The concert is sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Community of Lake County.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at the Unitarian Universalist Community of Lake County website ( http://uuclc.org ) or Watershed Books in Lakeport.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Firefighters contained a Wednesday night wildland fire that burned in the hills above Clearlake near the site of a fire that occurred earlier this summer.
The Sulphur fire was first reported just minutes before 7:30 p.m. in the area of Lakeshore Drive and San Joaquin Avenue.
The first units arriving on scene from Lake County Fire reported over the radio that the fire had a slow rate of spread and was burning up the ridge to the area of Carter Lane, with no structures threatened.
It was in that same area that the Goose fire burned about six acres on June 20, as Lake County News has reported.
Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta said his agency, along with Northshore Fire and Cal Fire, responded. Cal Fire sent both engines as well as tankers and helicopters.
Altogether, the three agencies supplied 10 engines, two medic units, four battalion chiefs, a chief, two dozers, four aircraft, a helicopter and several water tenders, Sapeta said.
The fire's forward progress was stopped just after 8:30 p.m., according to Sapeta's report from the scene.
At that point he had requested Clearlake Police officers temporarily close down San Joaquin Avenue to all vehicles except for fire units while the mop up was taking place.
While firefighters hadn't yet been able to walk the fire area late Wednesday, Sapeta told Lake County News that the fire was estimated to be between 10 and 15 acres..
At one point the fire jumped over Carter Lane, with that slop over site measuring about one acre, Sapeta said.
He said firefighters were able to tie the fire into the Goose fire burn area, noting that the Wednesday night incident was just to the southwest of that previous fire.
Sapeta estimated five hours of mop up would be required, and units at the scene reported that they were not expecting to be back in quarters until about 2 a.m. Thursday. One unit reported that it would be on the incident scene through the night.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, with Sapeta reporting Wednesday night that investigators were still processing the scene.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A spectacular sight in the Wednesday night sky sparked concerns of a plane crash but turned out to be a rocket reentering the atmosphere.
Just after 9:40 p.m. firefighters were dispatched to a possible plane down in the area of Lucerne, with additional reports putting the sighting closer to Wilbur Springs.
Lake County Central Dispatch received numerous phone calls reporting either a plane down or a meteor.
One eyewitness told Lake County News that he saw what looked like an asteroid splitting in the sky in the Lower Lake area.
Additional reports came into Lake County News' Facebook page from readers around the county, the region and other parts of the country, reporting that they, too, had seen it.
A short time after those reports began flooding in, firefighters were dispatched to a possible wildland fire in the Indian Valley area.
However, it was determined not long after dispatch that there was no plane down – as firefighters were getting reports on social media of the object also having been seen outside of Lake County – and no fire.
Rather, Lake County residents were seeing what many others had seen around the Western United States.
It wasn't a downed plane, a meteorite or an asteroid, but rather the debris from a Chinese rocket.
The situation became clearer thanks to Twitter posts by Jonathan McDowell, @planet4589, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
McDowell tweeted that observation reports from Utah indicated the second stage from the first Chang Zheng 7 rocket, which was launched Jun 25, reentered the Earth's atmosphere at 0440 Universal Time, or 9:40 p.m. Wednesday, just minutes before Central Dispatch began receiving calls about the object from Lake County residents.
Space-Track, the Joint Space Operations Center, NORAD and the US Strategic Command confirmed that the object was a CZ-7 – or Long March 7 – rocket.
The Chinese Space Programme and Aerospace Power reported that the CZ-7 is a new generation of medium-lift orbital launchers. The development of the launcher began in May 2010.
It was intended to be used for the launch of the Tianzhou cargo resupply vehicle, with the new line CZ-7 of launchers to replace the country's current series of launch vehicles once its technologies are fully tested, anticipated to occur by 2020.
McDowell said that, as of Wednesday, there had been 25 reentries this year into Earth's atmosphere of objects massing one ton or more.
He said objects of five tons or more, like the CZ-7, are rare, also reporting that the only bigger reentry in 2016 occurred on New Year's Day, when a Russian Zenit rocket stage came down over Vietnam.
Trevor Kerr captured video of the rocket's descent into the atmosphere from the Las Vegas area. The video is shown above.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has a selection of both cats and dogs available for adoption this week.
This week's featured dogs include mixes of Akita, American Staffordshire Terrier and bull terrier, plus there are several cats needing new homes.
To meet the animals, contact Marcia Taylor, the animal control outreach technician, at 707-994-8201, Extension 103, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, or contact Animal Control Officer Jenna Tuller at Extension 115 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. those same days or leave a message on Fridays or weekends.
Also follow Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook for the latest updates.
Below are this week's available pets.
'Flannel'
“Flannel” is a young male domestic short hair mix with a gray coat.
Shelter staff anticipate that he would make an excellent mouser.
'Kikie'
“Kikie” is a female domestic short hair mix with a gray coat.
Shelter staff said Kikie was rescued from a very bad situation.
Despite that, she loves everyone, and would make a great addition to any family, staff said.
She also is house trained.
'Little Man'
“Little Man” is a male domestic short hair mix with a tabby coat.
“Little Man has a truly sad story. He deserves to know what it's like to have a real home with food and water available at all times,” according to shelter staff.
He is house trained and ready for a new family.
'Monkey'
“Monkey” is a domestic short hair mix kitten with a gray tabby and white coat.
“Monkey truly lives up to his name while 'hanging' out in his crate. He is starving for attention but doesn't cry about it,” shelter staff said.
He's also reported to be very fun and entertaining. He wants to play with all the big dogs at the shelter and gets covered in dog drool.
He's good with anyone and all other animals, staff said.
'Nala'
“Nala” is a young American Staffordshire Terrier mix with a short white coat and brown markings.
Shelter staff describe Nala as a sweet little girl who needs someone to love her.
She already is spayed and microchipped, and ready to join her new family.
'Nutmeg'
“Nutmeg” is a 5-month-old American Staffordshire Terrier mix with a brown brindle coat and white markings.
She is reported to get along with other dogs and with cats.
“She is a sweet baby looking for her forever home,” said shelter staff.
'Sunny'
“Sunny” is a male Akita and bull terrier mix with an all-white coat.
“Sunny has a sunshine like disposition,” according to shelter staff.
He gets along well with others, loves to go for walks and get treats, is great on a leash and is very mellow.
Sunny is a well-mannered dog and a gentleman at heart, shelter staff reported, adding that he would make a great companion for someone looking for a low maintenance pet.
He's ready to go to a new home, as he is fully housebroken, up to date on shots and neutered.
Email Elizabeth Larson at