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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – It's an eclectic group of dogs that's available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control this week.
Dogs available to new homes this week include mixes of cattle dog, Chihuahua, dachshund, fox terrier, German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever, McNab, pit bull 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.
In addition to the animals featured here, all adoptable animals in Lake County can be seen here: http://bit.ly/Z6xHMb .
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”).
'Princess'
“Princess” is a Labrador Retriever mix with a short yellow coat.
Shelter staff said she is a sweet dog.
She's in kennel No. 2, ID No. 2469.
Female fox terrier mix
This female fox terrier mix has a short tricolor coat.
She's in kennel No. 3, ID No. 2398.
'Mimi'
“Mimi” is a Chihuahua mix.
She has a short white and tan coat.
Mimi is in kennel No. 4a, ID No. 2055.
Male Chihuahua mix
This male Chihuahua mix has a short white coat.
He's in kennel No. 4b, ID No. 2321.
Labrador Retriever-cattle dog mix
This male Labrador Retriever-cattle dog mix has a short tan and white coat.
Shelter staff said he is very good around other dogs, and showed many calming signals, like sniffing the ground, looking away and turning his body sideways. He was perfectly calm on a leash.
He's in kennel No. 5, ID No. 2227.
McNab-terrier mix
This male McNab-terrier mix has a short black and white coat.
Shelter staff said he's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 2442.
Female pit bull mix
This female pit bull terrier mix has a short brown brindle and white coat.
Shelter staff said she has no food aggression and would be fine with children ages 7 and older. She is not good with cats, but she would be great with other dogs, male or female.
They said that, overall, she is a wonderful and loving girl.
She's in kennel No. 7, ID No. 2241.
'Kermit'
“Kermit” is a handsome male German Shepherd mix with a short tan coat.
He's in kennel No. 9, ID No. 2446.
Labrador Retriever-shepherd mix
This older female Labrador Retriever-shepherd mix is looking for her forever home.
Shelter staff said she's an older dog that needs a loving home where she can spend the rest of herlife.
She's in kennel No. 10, ID No. 2468.
Male shepherd
This male shepherd mix has a short black and tan coat.
Shelter staff said he does great with other dogs, both male and female. He has shown some food aggression, but shelter staff said that can be addressed through training and management.
He's in kennel No. 11, ID No. 2367.
'Diesel'
“Diesel” is a boxer mix with a short black and white coat.
Shelter staff said Diesel needs a home with no livestock or farm animals, but seems fine with cats.
He's in kennel No. 16, ID No. 2270.
Male pit bull terrier mix
This cute young pit bull terrier mix has a short gray and white coat.
He's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 2470.
Dachshund-terrier mix
This happy young male dachshund-terrier mix has a short buff-colored coat.
He's in kennel No. 28, ID No. 2436.
Labrador-Retriever mix
This female Labrador Retriever mix with the great big smile has a short, all-black coat and big brown eyes.
She's in kennel No. 34, ID No. 2460.
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
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
Saturn's moon Titan is home to seas and lakes filled with liquid hydrocarbons, but what forms the depressions on the surface?
A new study using data from the joint NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) Cassini mission suggests the moon's surface dissolves in a process that's similar to the creation of sinkholes on Earth.
Apart from Earth, Titan is the only body in the solar system known to possess surface lakes and seas, which have been observed by the Cassini spacecraft. But at Titan's frigid surface temperatures – roughly minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 180 degrees Celsius) – liquid methane and ethane, rather than water, dominate Titan's hydrocarbon equivalent of Earth’s water.
Cassini has identified two forms of methane- and ethane-filled depressions that create distinctive features near Titan's poles.
There are vast seas several hundred miles across and up to several hundred feet deep, fed by branching, river-like channels.
There also are numerous smaller, shallower lakes, with rounded edges and steep walls that are generally found in flat areas. Cassini also has observed many empty depressions.
The lakes are generally not associated with rivers, and are thought to fill up by rainfall and liquids feeding them from underground.
Some of the lakes fill and dry out again during the 30-year seasonal cycle on Saturn and Titan. But exactly how the depressions hosting the lakes came about in the first place is poorly understood.
Recently a team of scientists turned to our home planet for the answer. They discovered that Titan's lakes are reminiscent of what are known as karstic landforms on Earth.
These are terrestrial landscapes that result from erosion of dissolvable rocks, such as limestone and gypsum, in groundwater and rainfall percolating through rocks.
Over time, this leads to features like sinkholes and caves in humid climates, and salt-pans where the climate is more arid.
The rate of erosion creating such features depends on factors such as the chemistry of the rocks, the rainfall rate and the surface temperature.
While all of these aspects clearly differ between Titan and Earth, the researchers think the underlying process may be surprisingly similar.
A team lead by Thomas Cornet of the European Space Agency calculated how long it would take for patches of Titan's surface to dissolve to create these features. They assumed that the surface is covered in solid organic material, and that the main dissolving agent is liquid hydrocarbons, and took into account present-day models of Titan's climate.
The scientists found that it would take around 50 million years to create a 300-foot (100-meter) depression at Titan's relatively rainy polar regions, consistent with the youthful age of the moon's surface.
“We compared the erosion rates of organics in liquid hydrocarbons on Titan with those of carbonate and evaporite minerals in liquid water on Earth,” said Cornet. “We found that the dissolution process occurs on Titan some 30 times slower than on Earth due to the longer length of Titan's year and the fact it only rains during Titan summer. Nonetheless, we believe that dissolution is a major cause of landscape evolution on Titan and could be the origin of its lakes.”
In addition, scientists calculated how long it would take to form lake depressions at lower latitudes, where the rainfall is reduced. The much longer timescale of 375 million years is consistent with the relative absence of depressions in these geographical locations.
“Of course, there are a few uncertainties: The composition of Titan's surface is not that well constrained, and neither are the long-term precipitation patterns, but our calculations are still consistent with the features we see today on Titan's relatively youthful billion-year-old surface,” said Cornet.
“By comparing Titan's surface features with examples on Earth and applying a few simple calculations, we have found similar land-shaping processes that could be operating under very different climate and chemical regimes,” said Nicolas Altobelli, ESA's Cassini project scientist. “This is a great comparative study between our home planet and a dynamic world more than a billion kilometers away in the outer solar system.”
This research was recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, Planets.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information about Cassini, visit http://www.nasa.gov/cassini or http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters from local, state and federal agencies successfully contained a series of small wildland fires that broke out along Highway 20 and near Clearlake on Saturday afternoon.
The fires were all reported within about a half hour beginning at 4:25 p.m., according to radio reports.
The incidents – in order – were located in the area of Olympic Drive and Highway 53 in Clearlake, on Witter Springs Road near Upper Lake, Old Long Valley Road and Highway 20, and Highway 20 and Walker Ridge, east of Clearlake Oaks, based on reports from the scene.
Lake County Fire and Cal Fire worked the Clearlake fire, while Northshore Fire, Lakeport Fire, Cal Fire and the US Forest Service responded to the incidents along Highway 20 in Upper Lake and near Clearlake Oaks, scanner reports indicated.
With local resources stretched, Williams Fire and Cal Fire were dispatched to the incident near the county line and Walker Ridge, officials said.
Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said the Witter Springs Fire was located in a vineyard that had not been planted but had 6-foot-tall weeds. He said a man was mowing the weeds when the area caught fire.
Beristianos said the fire burned four and a half acres. The fire was reported controlled just before 5:30 p.m., with firefighters remaining on scene for a few hours for mop up.
Reports from the scene indicated the fire on Olympic was just under two acres. That incident was terminated shortly after 8 p.m.
The fire on Old Long Valley Road burned about half an acre, according to Northshore Fire.
Cal Fire said the fire at Highway 20 and Walker Ridge burned about two acres.
Information about the causes of the fires near Clearlake and Clearlake Oaks was not immediately available Saturday night.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Firefighters are continuing to work on fire on burning since Friday night on private land within the Mendocino National Forest.
The Sanhedrin fire, reported Friday at around 7:30 p.m., is estimated to be 25 acres and is burning south of Little Signal Peak and east of the Sanhedrin Wilderness on the Upper Lake Ranger District, according to a Saturday report from Tamara Schmidt of the Mendocino National Forest.
Schmidt said the fire is burning in heavy fuels, including dead and down trees, in an area burned in 2008.
There was no estimated containment on Saturday night, Schmidt said.
Schmidt said the cause is under investigation.
Smoke from the fire is visible along Highway 101 and to communities on the west side of the forest, she said.
While it is on private land, Schmidt said the Sanhedrin fire is within the US Forest Service-designated protection area.
Schmidt said Cal Fire resources assisted with initial attack Friday night and worked through the night and into Saturday.
On Saturday night federal resources working to contain the wildfire included two engines, one water tender, one Type-1 and one Type-2 handcrew, Schmidt said.
Additional resources, including two Type-1 handcrews and one Type-2 crew are committed and currently traveling to the incident, according to Schmidt.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Avid cyclist and longtime Lakeport resident Richard Knoll has been selected to race in the 10th Brompton World Championships this summer in London.
A part of the Prudential Ride London Grand Prix Bike Event, the 10-mile Brompton World Championships final will take place at 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1.
The race will follow a fast 1.3-mile loop around Central London’s St. James Park.
“Five hundred and 75 bike racers from around the world will do eight laps in a criterium style race, on a course that starts on The Mall, to Horse Guards Road and Birdcage Walk, and then finishes directly facing Buckingham Palace. Pretty amazing location, for me it's an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and an experience that I'm so grateful to be able to be a part of,” he said.
So, what is a Brompton bike?
“A Brompton is a foldable bicycle used by many people who commute to work or travel,” Knoll explained. “I understand that it was originally called a subway bike. The Brompton foldable bike is manufactured in West London and is England’s largest bicycle manufacturer. It’s named after the Brompton Oratory in London.”
Knoll said all Bromptons have a similar design, but there are lots of different colors and components.
“Mine is black with tiny 16-inch wheels, a really long seat post, a straight white handlebar with brake levers and a thumb shifter for the three internal hub gears,” he said.
Knoll has had his Brompton for two years, after finding it on Craigslist in San Francisco. “I have another foldable bike that my Dad gave me, much older and not as well made. I was looking for a well made, solid small bike that I could travel with occasionally. It's been to Hawaii twice. It folds up and fits into a suitcase.”
He admits that, at his size – 6 feet, 1 inch tall and 220 pounds – it’s a funny thing watching him ride around town on his Brompton.
Knoll said his wife, April, calls it his “clown bike,” which led to him naming it “Pennywise,” for the scary, murderous clown in Stephen King's novel, “It.”
“I love it. It’s a fun bike to ride,” he said.
As for the Brompton World Championships, “This is a serious bike race, but what makes it fun, other than it being in London, is that the bike racers cannot wear any tight fitting Lycra,” Knoll said. “Most men wear dress slacks or shorts, a button-down shirt and tie, a cool blazer, dress socks and shoes. And the women racers often wear skirts, a blouse and blazer, and flats. Basically it’s about racing in street clothes, what you would wear to work.”
Follow Knoll as he trains and travels to London for the Brompton World Championships. Check out the Richard Knoll Consulting Web site blog at www.rkplans.com or The Travel Centers Web site at www.thetravelcenters.net .
For more about the Brompton bike and the “Bromptoneers,” visit www.brompton.com and follow the hashtags #mybrompton and #bromptonmafia on social media.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Work on a state highway pavement rehabilitation project is set to begin in the Kelseyville area on Monday.
Caltrans said the project along Route 29 will stretch five and a half miles from Kelseyville to Lakeport.
Ghilotti Brothers is the contractor on the $5 million project, the agency said.
Nighttime work hours will take place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., Sunday evening through Friday morning.
One-way traffic control will be in effect, and motorist should anticipate 15-minute delays.
Work will begin by performing digouts, where failing sections of asphalt will be ground out and replaced. This work is anticipated to be completed before the July 4 weekend.
When work resumes on July 6, the top layer of the existing asphalt will be ground off and roadway will be repaved.
The paving is expected to be completed by the end of July, Caltrans said.
To follow the progress of this project, and others in Caltrans District 1, like Caltrans on Facebook, www.facebook.com/CaltransD1 .