How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Dennis Sautelet entered eternal rest on July 12, 2016, at home in Kelseyville.
Born Dec. 30, 1942, in New Douglas, Ill., to Georgette Angeline and Marceau Sautelet, Dennis is preceded in death by his parents, and brothers Henry, Robert, Emil and Marceau II.
He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Jan Coppinger; daughter, Leah Sautelet; grandson, Jaden Nunez; sister, Cecilia Angeline of Olathe, Colo.; brother, Raymond (Brenda) Blackwood of Texas; and nieces and nephews in Colorado.
Dennis served in the United States Army from 1961 to 1964, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from Colorado Mesa University in 1989, and moved to California in 1990, where he owned and operated a painting contractor business in Rohnert Park, until moving to Kelseyville and retiring in 2003.
In addition to a love of book collecting, reading, politics, cribbage, fishing and re-telling jokes, Dennis will be most remembered as a rare and amazing loving father and grandfather.
A full military honors funeral service will be held at Hartley Cemetery at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 23, immediately followed by a celebration of life at Highland Springs Reservoir (with horseshoes, fishing, swimming and potluck). Please join the family at either or both.
The family would like to express its sincerest gratitude to Hospice Services for its all-encompassing support during the final months.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Housing Commission will accept by mail-only applications from 225 extremely low-income households.
Household qualifications, income guidelines and applications may be picked up at 15975 Anderson Ranch Parkway in Lower Lake and at most other Social Services agencies.
Forms can be mailed upon request.
For additional information please call 707-995-3744.
BERKELEY, Calif. – For her book on Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh’s famously mutilated ear, British author Bernadette Murphy needed to clear up confusion about the extent of the damage the artist inflicted on himself in 1888.
So she called up UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library.
Somewhere in the archives of the late Irving Stone, author of the fictionalized Van Gogh biography Lust for Life, she suspected there lay a signed letter from Van Gogh’s doctor detailing the self-mutilation.
Then library assistant David Kessler searched through an uncatalogued box devoted to that book, and finally retrieved the note and a sketch of his left ear, which attested to the fact that the artist removed all but part of the earlobe.
That tale and more are now revealed in the newly published book “Van Gogh’s Ear: The True Story” (Chatto & Windus, London).
The letter, on loan from the Bancroft, went on display at the Van Gogh Museum on July 15 as part of an exhibit titled “On the Verge of Insanity.”
This is the first time the museum has focused specifically on the Impressionist’s much-debated mental condition.
The letter is also the centerpiece of a new BBC documentary of the same name, “Van Gogh's Ear,” that will premiere in the fall, and which is based on Murphy’s book.
David Faulds, now the Bancroft Library curator of rare Books and literary manuscripts, delivered the letter, written and signed by Dr. Félix Rey on Aug. 18, 1930, to the museum.
For more about the letter, visit https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about-the-museum/press/press-image-bank/images-on-the-verge-of-insanity/letter-from-felix-rey-to-irving-stone ; for more on the exhibit see https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about-the-museum/press/press-releases/van-goghs-illness-ear-and-suicide-explored-in-depth-for-the-first-time .
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Earlier this year the detection of gravitational waves was confirmed.
This important prediction of Einstein’s theory of general relativity remained a theory for 100 years. Now we know that, again, Einstein was right and these waves really do exist.
Dr. Steven Pollaine, who spent 30 years at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in laser fusion research, is one of Taylor’s most popular lecturers.
His talk at the Taylor Observatory at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 23, is the second this year for this hugely important topic. Pollaine will emphasize the implications of this discovery for physics.
The first of two showings in the planetarium precedes the talk at 7:30 p.m.
Einstein’s theory of relativity made two startling predictions about gravity. One was that a heavy object, such as our sun, would bend light from distant stars. The second was that gravitational waves would be generated when two massive bodies collapsed into each other.
Now, 100 years after the prediction, the second gravitational theory is verified.
The recently detected gravitational wave arose from the collapse of two black holes a billion miles distant from our solar system.
Scientists in the states of Louisiana and Washington simultaneously detected the gravitational waves using a laser apparatus which was funded by the National Science Foundation in 1992, at that time the most expensive NSF project ever.
Taylor’s new policy of free admission for Lake County students in grades K-12 to the monthly Window to the Universe events has been a great success and will continue. For others, tickets are $5. Donations to Taylor are always appreciated.
The Window to the Universe event includes the lecture, a planetarium show and, weather permitting, views of the moon, Mars, Saturn and various deep space objects through Taylor telescopes.
Friends of Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium sponsors Window to the Universe events. Taylor is located at the end of Oak Hills Lane in Kelseyville.
For further information phone 415-209-3084, or visit the Friends of Taylor Facebook page.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A new book looks at the history of Lake County's schools and their role in serving their communities.
Lake County Museum Curator Antone Pierucci's first book, “Lake County Schoolhouses,” came out at the end of June. It's part of Arcadia Publishing's “Images of America” series.
The 128-page book explores Lake County's educational history, and offers photos of schools and communities by drawing on the museum's extensive photo collection.
“It took me about a year to research and write it,” said Pierucci, who took the helm as the county's museum curator in January 2015.
As he was getting started in the job, Pierucci felt that the curator should know everything there is to know about education and schools.
Pointing out that there's no surer way to learn about an area than through how its children are educated, he began to study the topic thoroughly.
In the course of that process, Pierucci said he found the subject of Lake County's educational history more and more compelling.
“It's such a fascinating topic to me,” he said.
He decided to write a book on the subject because it would offer a continuity and permanence that exhibits and presentations don't, and allow him to share the research he had done with a wider audience.
Pierucci said it also was a way to share the museum's “phenomenal” collection of historical photos, many of them not available publicly before now.
Photos, he added, can touch people in ways words can't.
He added that he also wrote the book to get people interested again in the Lower Lake Schoolhouse as well as the Kelsey Creek Schoolhouse that is located in Finley.
Schools, along with churches, have traditionally served as important monuments and meeting places, he said. Often, as a result of their importance, they were the largest public buildings in the communities.
“They served so many different purposes,” Pierucci explained, noting they hosted weddings, funerals, traveling carnivals, dances, recitals – “you name it.”
Schools continue to offer important gathering locations today. “Not a lot has changed in that regard,” he said.
Pierucci's time frame in the book stretches from 1856, when records show the first schools appeared, until World War II.
“By World War II, things had changed quite drastically,” he said, noting that by that point there were still one-room schoolhouses, but most had largely disappeared.
An aspect of Lake County's educational history that the book explores is school segregation. In Lake County's case, Pierucci said the aim was to separate white and Indian children.
Pierucci said the period of school segregation lasted about 30 years, with the county's last segregated school – the West Lake Indian School – shutting its doors in 1934.
Prior to that, Indian children either weren't taught at all or, if they were, it was in a haphazard manner, with the federal government trying to figure out what should be done with them, Pierucci said.
Locally, native children attended day schools – rather than boarding schools – operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he said.
Pierucci said the day school structure may have helped shelter the local Pomo from the attacks on their culture that other tribes encountered in the boarding school system.
Even in day schools the children were discouraged from speaking their language or pursuing their cultural traditions, but at the end of the day they could go back to families and have their language and customs reinforced, he said.
Pierucci has been making the rounds of book signings, and he said he's getting good feedback on the book.
“People seem to enjoy it,” he said, noting that it seems to bring back for readers their own educational experiences.
Arcadia Publishing has published 800 copies of the book in this first round, and Pierucci said he has 150 on hand for sale at the museum. The copies were purchased by the nonprofits supporting the museums, so the proceeds ultimately benefit the museums, he said.
Pierucci said he makes only a small amount on the books and is unlikely to break even on his efforts. In order to avoid any impropriety he donated all of his research work and the books he purchased in the process to the museum.
“You don't get rich doing this sort of thing,” he said. “But I sure do love it.”
The museums currently are in the process of researching the history of politics in Lake County, and Pierucci said he's considering writing a companion book on that topic.
“Lake County Schoolhouses” by Antone R.E. Pierucci, ISBN: 978-1-4671-1621-3, 128 pages, paperback, $21.99.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS (Rated PG)
Do you ever wonder what Fido or Fluffy are doing all day while the family is at work and school?
Well, you may find a hypothetical answer with “The Secret Life of Pets,” which animates household pets to speaking English even better than some people you may encounter in everyday life.
The ringleader, so to speak, of domesticated animals living in Manhattan apartments is a cute, pampered terrier mix by the name of Max (voiced by Louis C.K.). He hates to see his owner, the sweet-natured Katie (voiced by Ellie Kemper) leaving for work.
But what Max dislikes even more is his owner’s soft spot to rescue another canine from the pound. The new arrival is the wildly furry Duke (voiced by Eric Stonestreet), a sloppy, massive mess of a mongrel with zero interpersonal skills.
A turf war breaks out between the two dogs, as a jealous Max does not want to share Katie’s affection, or more importantly, his bed as well as his food bowl with the disruptive, abusive and basically insensitive Duke.
Meanwhile, some of Max’s neighbors figure into the story, such as the exceedingly obese cat Chloe (voiced by Lake Bell) who won’t give you the time of day unless you are willing to substitute a nice juicy chicken meal for the awful dry cat food.
The very fluffy white-haired Gidget (Jenny Slate) is a naïve but gutsy Pomeranian who talks tough for such a small dog. On the inside, she’s a secret admirer of Max, which becomes truly evident when the object of her affection goes missing.
Out for a walk in the park with an inattentive dog walker, Max and Duke find themselves cut loose from the group and suddenly lost on the mean streets of New York. An aggressive animal control crew snags them for a trip to the pound.
The streets of the city, to say nothing of the back alleys, are the home territory for feral animals, mostly former pets that have been abandoned by previous owners, and now call themselves the Flushed Pets.
This motley gang has a vengeful mission to terminate humans, except they seem to be lacking a workable game plan, even though their leader, a fuzzy white rabbit named Snowball (voiced by the funny Kevin Hart) is always talking a good game.
Since one of Snowball’s compatriots is in the same animal control van as Duke and Max, the domesticated duo pretend to be denizens of the street so as to be freed from an unwelcomed trip to the pound.
Unstable and erratic, Snowball is so deranged that he gives new meaning to paranoia. He may look cute and adorable, but he’s insane. His crew of misfits lives in the sewers where they plot the extinction of mankind.
Things start to go badly for Duke and Max when they are unable to keep up false appearances of undomesticated life, and must suddenly flee Snowball and his angry tribe right out into the Hudson River.
Above ground, in the seediest alleys, the turf belongs to untamed felines that are itching to rip apart uninvited canines. Ozone (voiced by Steve Coogan), hideously ugly inside and out, is an alley cat with a bad attitude.
As the day wears on, and Duke and Max have come to terms with the need to band together in a quest for survival in a world that is foreign and inhospitable, their friends back at the apartment building worry about their long absence.
Gidget ventures forth from the safe confines of her world to enlist the help of Chloe and the dopey, excitable pug Mel (voiced by Bobby Moynihan) along with the sarcastic dachshund Buddy (voiced by Hannibal Buress) to search for the missing pals.
Taking a big chance to find an ally, Gidget finds a lonely, hooded red-tailed hawk named Tiberius (voiced by Albert Brooks), who has a sharp wit and even sharper talons. Somehow, Tiberius suppresses his natural killer instincts to befriend the small dog.
Together, this diverse group of animals recruits the much-needed help of Pops (voiced by Dana Carvey), an old basset hound slowed down by age but who knows the city like the back of his wrinkled paw.
One of the more fascinating animals is Leonard, a posh poodle living in a swanky penthouse that never speaks, but has a penchant for blaring punk rock music as soon as his snooty owner leaves for the day.
Even when the action descends into the scary world of the sewers, “The Secret Life of Pets” holds on to its essentially good-natured feeling, though the animal control workers may beg to differ.
This is the type of animated film that’s good enough for family fun during the summer, but will never achieve the memorable status of “Frozen” or “Toy Story.”
Yet, “The Secret Life of Pets,” an amusing comedy, manages to strike the right notes of delightful entertainment.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.