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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – It’s pouring rain when local postman Ben Lovato drives into Lakeport Elementary School to do his lesson, but he’s still smiling.
And as he prepares for his lesson in the back of Mrs. Beedle’s second grade class, the children are noticeably distracted.
They keep looking at the big black mailbox Lovato has put on the back counter.
About two years ago, when a group of 20-somethings walked into the Lakeport Post Office looking for assistance addressing an envelope, Lovato didn’t hesitate to help.
But after another young woman in her early 20s walked in with the same questions less than two weeks later, Lovato began to notice a pattern.
“I started calling around to other post offices and asking if they were experiencing the same thing,” Lovato said. “And sure enough, more and more people have never learned how to address an envelope.”
He said that’s when he first got the idea to teach kids not only how to write a real letter, but about the journey our physical mail takes before reaching recipients on the other end.
“I grew up where you were taught how to write a letter, how to address an envelope and … see how the letter was mailed,” he said. “I feel this art should not be lost, and should be taught in schools and local communities.”
Lovato added, “Everything is text messages, or phone calls, or emails,” and he has a point.
The conveyance of communications is almost universally instantaneous now. Today children rarely have the opportunity to learn how the mail system works, or even develop a curiosity for it, unless educators and parents go out of their way.
“I remember how exciting it was to receive [a] letter back from someone,” Lovato said. “And how eager I was to read and write back.”
Not many would describe writing and sending a letter as a lost art the way Lovato does. Neither was calligraphy or fiber craft once upon a time. Could letter writing be shelved along with them as an obsolete skill that was once common knowledge?
With more and more schools no longer teaching cursive, more emphasis is placed on the speed a person can type than the thought and time that people used to value when writing to others.
Even the Chinese government has expressed its frustration with the younger generation’s lack of knowledge on Mandarin’s written form.
Which is why with the help of some friends who teach at elementary schools, Lovato has begun to bring the “lost art of letter writing” back to Lake County children.
At Lakeport Elementary, Mrs. Beedle’s students still want to know what Lovato has in his mailbox.
Since the students have not yet learned all of their letters, Lovato doesn’t have them write on any envelopes.
He begins with the basics and then tells them about the children whose parents put them in the mail when it was legal over 100 years ago.
Students crowd around his iPad to look at the dated monochrome and sepia photographs. In one is May, a 6 or 7-year-old girl – close in age to Lovato's audience – who was mailed 73 miles away by her parents.
In another, a disgruntled mail carrier in traditional uniform looks at the camera with his infant cargo.
One student can’t help but exclaim, “That’s so awkward!” at the absurdity.
Despite a recent promotion at the post office in Clearlake Oaks, Lovato’s goals for this lost art expand beyond his visits to local schools.
“I would hope this could spawn into something bigger and one day the post office could have a ‘National Day of Letter Writing,’” he said. “One day a year … everyone would write someone a letter instead of emailing or texting.”
Lovato also hopes to get schools to implement their own post office with an elected student postmaster and special postal employees within each classroom to distribute letters between classmates.
Students would learn how to write a letter, an address, where to place a stamp and develop a more intimate knowledge of how mail gets from one place to another.
“If these simple concepts were taught again, it not only would benefit USPS but children and young adults everywhere,” Lovato said.
Anita Swanson, principal of Lakeport Elementary School, agrees. “Kids are motivated by people coming in from the outside.”
When asked if Lovato could return for a future visit, she replied: “Oh gosh yes!”
Before Lovato says goodbye, he promises goodies from the post office. He and Mrs. Beedle’s students venture out into the rain single file where he shows them his mail truck before they all pile into the back for a picture.
It’s clear from his smile and everyone else’s that Lovato’s enthusiasm for a vanishing art is rubbing off on a new generation.
Email Shari Shepard at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – If you can get up early in the morning of Cinco De Mayo (May 5), say, around 4:30 a.m., you are in for a treat.
The Eta Aquarids meteor shower will take place.
Look toward the east. The moon will affect your viewing, but some of the brighter meteors can still be seen.
Also occurring early in the morning of May 5 is the close pairing of Saturn and the Moon. Look toward the southwest for this.
The constellation we want to explore in May is Ursa Major, the Big Bear.
High in the northern sky, this magnificent pattern of stars has been recognized by many cultures since man began gazing at the stars.
Within Ursa Major, there are seven bright stars that form a pattern we call an asterism. In this case, the asterism is known as The Big Dipper (or “The Plough” if you live in England).
The two end stars in the cup of the dipper point to Polaris, the North Star.
The second star from the end of the handle is Mizar. If you have very good eyesight, you may see that Mizar is really a double star, Alcor being the name of its companion.
With a telescope, Ursa Major reveals a wealth of deep sky objects:
There is the Owl Nebula, appearing as the face of a ghostly owl.
There is M 108, a galaxy similar to ours that shows itself tilted on its edge.
Finally, the Pinwheel galaxy lives up to its name.
John Zimmerman is a resident of Lake County and has been an amateur astronomer for more than 50 years. For more information about Astronomy and local resources, visit his Web site at www.lakecountyskies.com .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A colony of honey bees took refuge on a tree at the Coyote Valley Elementary School playground for several hours recently.
The nearly soccer ball-sized gathering of bees caused quite a stir amongst the students, who were guided safely away from the pollinators, and informed of just how valuable the golden orb of insects is!
A local bee extractor was called in, however, the bees took flight before they could arrived to collect them.
Members of the genus Apis, there are only seven species of honeybees among the 20,000 identified species of bees in the world.
Scientists believe the honeybee originated in Asia. Evidence in fossils show up as far back as 56 million years ago.
A serious condition in bee populations known as colony collapse disorder, or CCD, has been widely reported in the west recently.
Beekeepers have been baffled as to the causes, but have taken notice of a severe impairment in the bee's protein production.
Other theories for CCD include the adverse effects of the agricultural growth practices of monoculture, along with the negative effects of pesticide use.
The bee colony that paid a visit to Coyote Valley Elementary School was in the process of finding a new home for their overgrown hive.
The old hive, containing a queen bee, thousands of drone bees (fertile mates), and thousand of sterile (female) worker bees was made up of a wax honeycomb constructed by the diligent worker bees as a repository for the queen's eggs.
Bee society is very complex and interesting, to say the least.
To learn more about apiology, the study of honey bees, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7cX2cjFunw .
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – May is a great time to get out and about and enjoy the weather, and if you're looking for a four-legged friend to enjoy the outdoors with you, check out this week's dogs available to new homes at Lake County Animal Care and Control.
The dogs available this week include mixes of Australian Shepherd, Chihuahua, flat-coated retriever, Jack Russell Terrier, pit bull, 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.
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”).
'Tippy'
“Tippy” is a female Australian Shepherd.
Shelter staff said they do not know her background, but she needs a home with women only, as she is very afraid of men.
Tippy is good with other dogs and has been fine with mellow children.
Find Tippy in kennel No. 1, ID No. 2142.
'Pokey'
“Pokey” is a terrier-Schipperke mix.
Shelter staff said Pokey is very social and friendly, and has a great personality. He loves to play with toys and is great with other dogs.
Pokey is in kennel No. 2, ID No. 2054.
'Barney'
“Barney” is a Jack Russell Terrier-Chihuahua mix.
He has a short brown and tan coat.
He's in kennel No. 3, ID No. 2051.
Female Chihuahua mix
This female Chihuahua mix has a short tan coat.
She's in kennel No. 7, ID No. 2085.
Male Chihuahua mix
This male Chihuahua mix has a short buff-colored coat.
He's in kennel No. 9, ID No. 2064.
Male pit bull terrier mix
This male pit bull terrier mix has a short gray and white coat.
Shelter staff calls him a “big squishy guy” who is very gentle. They believe he would be fine with children.
He has no food aggression, gets along with other dogs both male and female, and is very appropriate in every way.
The shelter is looking for that special "pitty" lover to take him home and care for him.
He's in kennel No. 13, ID No. 2035.
Male pit bull mix
This male pit bull mix has a short dark brown and white coat.
Shelter staff said he is pretty well behaved with a moderate to low energy level.
They said he has been through a lot he appears to have been dumped in the middle of nowhere; when he arrived he was full of punctures all on his legs, possibly from a dog fight.
Despite all of that, shelter staff said he is very social and friendly with dogs.
He's in kennel No. 15, ID No. 2094.
'Butch'
“Butch” is a male flat-coated retriever mix.
Shelter staff said he is heartworm-positive so he will need treatment.
They said he is a great dog, and is good with female dogs large and small, as he lived with a small female. He does not do well with dominant males, but submissive males are OK.
Butch is in kennel No. 16, ID No. 2113.
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
The Sahara Desert is one of the least hospitable climates on Earth. Its barren plateaus, rocky peaks, and shifting sands envelop the northern third of Africa, which sees very little rain, vegetation and life.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic Ocean thrives the world’s largest rainforest. The lush, vibrant Amazon basin, located in northeast South America, supports a vast network of unparalleled ecological diversity.
So, what do these seemingly different climates have in common? They are intimately connected by a 10,000 mile long intermittent atmospheric river of dust.
Every year, intense Saharan winds send enormous clouds of dust on a trans-Atlantic journey to the Amazon basin.
This dust, much of it originating in an ancient lakebed in Chad, is rich in phosphorus. When it reaches the rainforest, the remains of long-dead organisms of the Sahara provide crucial nutrients to the rainforest’s living flora.
Phosphorus, which is essential to plant growth, is in short supply in the Amazon. Desert dust dumped into the forest every year helps to diminish this deficit.
NASA researchers are studying this dusty link between Amazon and Sahara, to understand how it operates and how it might be affected by climate change.
"We know that dust is very important in many complex ways,” said Hongbin Yu, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Maryland who works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Dust affects climate and, at the same time, climate change will affect dust."
“As researchers,” he adds, “we ask ourselves two basic questions: “How much dust is transported? And how does climate change affect the amount of dust that travels across the Atlantic?”
Data from NASA’s CALIPSO satellite, launched in 2006, may provide the answers.
For the first time, CALIPSO has quantified the amount of dust that makes the trans-continental voyage – and the numbers are impressive: of the 182 million tons (or nearly 700,000 semi trucks’ worth) of dust that leave the Sahara each year, 27.7 million tons, or 15% of the total are scattered over the Amazon basin.
CALIPSO, short for “Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation,” uses a laser range finder or lidar to scan Earth’s atmosphere for the vertical distribution of dust and other aerosols. It regularly tracks the Sahara-Amazon dust plume.
One of the things CALIPSO has revealed is the connection’s variability – changing as much as 86 percent between 2007 and 2011.
Why? The answer could lie in the Sahel, the long strip of semi-arid land on the southern border of the Sahara.
Yu and his colleagues have found a possible connection between rainfall in the Sahel and the amount of dust transported over the Atlantic. When rainfall in the Sahel is higher, the volume of dust is lower.
The exact reason behind this correlation is unknown, but Yu has some ideas. It’s possible that the increased rainfall could cause more vegetation to grow in the Sahel, thus leaving less sand exposed to powerful winds.
Another possibility centers on the wind. The amount of rainfall is correlated with wind patterns that can sweep dust from the Sahara and the Sahel into the upper atmosphere, which is basically a superhighway to the Amazon.
Thanks to CALIPSO’s unprecedented 3D observations of atmospheric dust, scientists can begin to create models to predict how the dust may impact climate in the future – and how it nurtures the lush forests of South America today.
Rachel Molina works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A Clearlake Oaks man sustained major injuries on Thursday when his motorcycle hit a guardrail and later was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Ronald Ferro, 44, was injured in the wreck, which occurred at about 6:45 p.m. Thursday on Highway 20 east of the intersection with Highway 53, according to the California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office.
The CHP said firefighters found Ferro and his black 2007 special construction motorcycle down and blocking the No. 2 eastbound lane of Highway 20 about 10 minutes after the crash took place.
Based on the CHP's investigation so far, Ferro was heading eastbound on Highway 20 at an undetermined speed when, for reasons yet to be determined, his motorcycle hit a metal and wood guardrail.
Due to his injuries, Ferro was transported by REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, the CHP reported.
The CHP said it was at the hospital that Ferro was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, with alcohol appearing to be a factor in the crash.
The CHP said Ferro was using his safety equipment.
The crash remains under investigation, the CHP said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at