News

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A late Sunday night crash led to a local man being flown to a regional trauma center, with authorities arresting the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence.

California Highway Patrol Officer Kory Reynolds said Kristina Elise Branda, 22, of Kelseyville, was arrested following the crash, which occurred at 11:43 p.m. Sunday near Kelseyville.

Reynolds said Branda was driving a 1997 Cadillac northbound on Fairway Drive when she allowed her vehicle to go off the roadway, where it hit an embankment.  

Branda’s passenger, Robert Lowrie, 27, of Kelseyville was flown by REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with head trauma, Reynolds said.

Branda was taken to Sutter Lakeside Hospital and treated for minor injuries, Reynolds said.

She subsequently was arrested for felony driving under the influence causing injury and was booked into the Lake County Jail, according to Reynolds.

Branda's bail was set at $30,000. Jail records indicated she remained in custody on Monday afternoon.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Parts of Lake County got a blanket of snow on Sunday, and forecasters are predicting more cold weather with chances of showers this week.

Snow was reported on Sunday in areas of Lake County including Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake, Cobb, Clearlake, Lower Lake and parts of Kelseyville.

The snow led to some vehicle collisions and temporary road closures during the day and into the night as drivers encountered the slick and icy conditions.

For the most part, however, area residents appeared to greet the snow and rain as a welcome break from what so far has been an extremely dry winter.

This week, the National Weather Service is forecasting daytime highs in the 50s and nighttime lows in the 20s.

There are chances this week of light winds, with a 20-percent chance of showers anticipated on Wednesday, and rain also forecast next Saturday and Sunday.

It will take more precipitation to help bring Clear Lake up to a seasonal norm.

As of Sunday evening, the lake level was still hovering around 0.59 feet Rumsey, compared with 5.89 feet Rumsey on Feb. 2, 2013, according to US Geological Survey records.

The California Department of Water Resources reported that Sunday's storms gave a modest boost to the state's thin snowpack, which rose from 12 percent of normal on Saturday to 15 percent of normal on Sunday evening.

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. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a full house of young cats needing homes this week.

They range in age from 6 months to 2 years, with a variety of coats and colors.

In addition to spaying or neutering, cats that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are microchipped 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 there, hoping you'll choose them.

The following cats at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (other cats pictured on the animal control Web site that are not listed here are still “on hold”).

Domestic short hair mix

This female domestic short hair mix is 9 months old.

She has a short coat with calico markings and has not been spayed.

She's in cat room kennel No. 3a, ID No. 38970.

Female seal point-flame point

This female domestic short hair mix is 9 months old.

She has seal point and flame point markings, and blue eyes. She has not yet been spayed.

She's in cat room kennel No. 3b, ID No. 38971.

Domestic short hair mix

This female domestic short hair mix is 6 months old.

She has a short coat with tortie point markings, a kinked tail and weighs 2.8 pounds. Shelter staff did not report if she has been spayed.

Find her in cat room kennel No. 6a, ID No. 38899.

Domestic short hair mix

This female domestic short hair mix is 2 years old.

She has a coat with tortie point markings and a kinked tail. Shelter staff did not report if she has been spayed.

She's in cat room kennel No. 6b, ID No. 38900.

'Tiny'

“Tiny” is a male domestic short hair mix.

He has a brown tabby coat with white markings and green eyes. He hasn't yet been neutered.

Find him in cat room kennel No. 12, ID No. 38947.

Domestic short hair mix

This female domestic short hair mix is 2 years old.

She has a short calico coat and weighs 6.6 pounds. Shelter staff did not report if she has been spayed.

Find her in cat room kennel No. 18, ID No. 38898.

Male Siamese mix

This male domestic short hair mix is 9 months old.

He has blue eyes and a coat with seal point markings. He hasn't yet been neutered.

He's in cat room kennel No. 41a, ID No. 38968.

Male domestic short hair mix

This male domestic short hair mix is 9 months old.

He has green eyes, a black and white coat, and has not yet been neutered.

Find him in cat room kennel No. 41b, ID No. 38969.

'Kiki'

“Kiki” is a 1-year-old male gray tabby.

He has a short coat and green eyes, and has not yet been neutered.

He's in cat room kennel No. 92, ID No. 38946.

Adoptable cats also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Cats_and_Kittens.htm or at www.petfinder.com .

Please note: Cats listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.

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, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.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.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Clear Lake High School emerged as the winner of this year's Lake County Academic Decathlon competition on Saturday.

The team's win is its first in the brain-challenging competition in many years, according to Coach Jim Rogers.

Team members Dakota Durbin, Jose Estrada, Asia Jones, Liberty Justice, Serena Kacharos-Warren, Gabriel Kimbell-Auth, Abigail LaBar, Philip Leighton, Savannah Rasmussen and Melissa Thibeau posted the best combined score over two days of competition that began last weekend and culminated in Saturday's final day of testing at Lower Lake High School.

Clear Lake High edged out Kelseyville High School's Team A, last year's winners, with Upper Lake High School placing third.

This year's theme was World War I.

The teams competed in 10 academic disciplines – speech, interview, essay, science, economics, music, mathematics, social science, arts, and language and literature – plus poetry and poster production, and the Super Quiz.

The teams include three members each from three academic levels: Honors, with a grade point average of 3.75 to 4.00; Scholastic, 3.00 to 3.74 GPA; and Varsity, GPA of 2.99 or below.

The Super Quiz, the only portion of the competition that's public, took place in the Lower Lake High School gym Saturday afternoon.

Brock Falkenberg of the Lake County Office of Education served as quiz master, asking 36 tough questions in three rounds, with students having just seconds to answer.

Clear Lake won that event, followed by Kelseyville High Team A and Upper Lake.

In the speech competition, Kelseyville High Team A standout Blair Brookes received a perfect score of 1,000 points and was invited to give her speech on the importance of agricultural education.

Rogers said that what made the difference for the team was that this year, for the first time, the school gave him a class devoted to preparing for the Academic Decathlon, much like Upper Lake High has had for many years.

He said the team now will get back to work preparing to represent Lake County at the California Academic Decathlon, which takes place in Sacramento March 20 to 23.

The full competition results are listed below.

TEAM ROSTERS

Clear Lake High School

Coach: Jim Rogers

Dakota Durbin, Jose Estrada, Asia Jones, Liberty Justice, Serena Kacharos-Warren, Gabriel Kimbell-Auth, Abigail LaBar, Philip Leighton, Savannah Rasmussen and Melissa Thibeau

Kelseyville High School

Coaches: Erick Larsen and Heather Koschik

Team A: Eduardo Alatorre, Blair Brookes, Arnaud Caldow, Cassidy Holmes, Nicole Maines, Mary McCallister, Maeve Rixen, Claire Ryan, Austin Schmadeke, Kyle Schmidt and Andrew Vonwall

Team B: Madison Boyd, Brandon Huber, Justin Lombardo, Merin Rixen, Erik Miller, Luiz Perez, Tiara Richards, Jafeth Silva, Nate Smit, Jared Smith

Lower Lake High School

Coach: Chris Kinney

Elijah Andre-Orlando, Pamela Coleman, James Hadden, Wayne Harris Jr., Paul Johnson, Ian Lambert, Anneesa Lopez, Colton Markley, Michelle Page and Jessica Phillips

Upper Lake High School

Coaches: Anna Sabalone and Angel Hayenga

David Becerra-Lopez, Savannah Fecht, Alberto Lopez, Jamie Maddock, Wroehnyn Milks, Juan Ruiz, Thomas Santana-Alfaro, Ian Seevers, Jordin Simons, Edgar Valencia and Arthur Wilkie.

AWARDS

Team placement

• First: Clear Lake High School
• Second: Kelseyville High School Team A
• Third: Upper Lake High School

Poster contest

• First place: Asia Jones, Clear Lake High
• Second place: Savannah Rasmussen, Clear Lake High
• Third place: Gabriel Kimbell-Auth, Clear Lake High

The Lake County Arts Council sponsored the poster contest and provided awards of $25, $15 and $10 for first, second and third places, respectively.

Poetry contest

• First place: Claire Ryan, Kelseyville High Team A
• Second place: Liberty Justice, Clear Lake High
• Third place: Philip Leighton, Clear Lake High

The Lake County Arts Council sponsored the poetry contest and provided awards of $25, $15 and $10 for first, second and third places, respectively.

Super Quiz

• First place: Clear Lake High
• Second place: Kelseyville High Team A
• Third Place:Upper Lake High

Essay

• First place: Philip Leighton, Clear Lake High
• Second place: Juan Ruiz, Upper Lake High
• Third place: Arnaud Caldow, Kelseyville High Team A

Science

• First place: Asia Jones, Clear Lake High
• Second place: Philip Leighton, Clear Lake High
• Third place (two-way tie): Kyle Schmidt, Kelseyville High Team A; Melissa Thibeau, Clear Lake High

Economics

• First place: Asia Jones, Clear Lake High
• Second place (two-way tie): Jordin Simons, Upper Lake High; Serena Kacharos-Warren, Clear Lake High
• Third place (four-way tie): Blair Brookes, Kelseyville High Team A; Nicole Maines, Kelseyville High Team A; Eduardo Alatorre, Kelseyville High Team A; James Hadden, Lower Lake High School

Music

• First place: Asia Jones, Clear Lake High
• Second place (two-way tie): Savannah Fecht, Upper Lake High; Philip Leighton, Clear Lake High
• Third place (two-way tie): Wroehnyn Milks, Upper Lake High; Eduardo Alatorre, Kelseyville High Team A

Math

• First place: Arnaud Caldow, Kelseyville High Team A
• Second place (two-way tie): Elijah Andre-Orlando, Lower Lake High; Blair Brookes, Kelseyville High Team A
• Third place (five-way tie): Jordin Simons, Upper Lake High; Colton Markley, Lower Lake High; Brandon Huber, Kelseyville High Team B; Jafeth Silva, Kelseyville High Team B; Maeve Rixen, Kelseyville High Team A

Social sciences

• First place: Asia Jones, Clear Lake High
• Second place (two-way tie): Ian Lambert, Lower Lake High; Eduardo Alatorre, Kelseyville High Team A
• Third place (two-way tie): Ian Seevers, Upper Lake High; Nicole Maines, Kelseyville High Team A

Art

• First place (two-way tie): Savannah Fecht, Upper Lake High; Jordin Simons, Upper Lake High
• Second place: Asia Jones, Clear Lake High
• Third place (two-way tie): Eduardo Alatorre, Kelseyville High Team A; Philip Leighton, Clear Lake High

Language and literature

• First place (two-way tie): James Hadden, Lower Lake High; Asia Jones, Clear Lake High
• Second place: Nicole Maines, Kelseyville High Team A
• Third place (three-way tie): Arthur Wilkie, Upper Lake High; Blair Brookes, Kelseyville High Team A; Gabriel Kimbell-Auth, Clear Lake High

Interview

• First place: Blair Brookes, Kelseyville High Team A
• Second place: Michelle Page, Lower Lake High
• Third place: Asia Jones, Clear Lake High

Speech

• First place: Blair Brookes, Kelseyville High Team A (perfect 1,000-point score)
• Second place: Abigail LaBar, Clear Lake High
• Third place: Mary McCallister, Kelseyville High School Team A

Scholarships of $250 also went to the best speech students from each of the schools, including Brookes, LaBar, McCallister and Elijah Andre-Orlando from Lower Lake High.

TOP FINISHERS FOR EACH ACADEMIC LEVEL

Honors category (3.75-4.00 grade point average)

First place: Asia Jones, Clear Lake High
Second place: Blair Brookes, Kelseyville High Team A
Third place: Jordin Simons, Upper Lake High

Scholastic category (3.00-3.74 GPA)

First place: Arthur Wilkie, Upper Lake High
Second place: Abigail LaBar, Clear Lake High
Third place: Elijah Andre-Orlando, Lower Lake High

Varsity category (2.99 GPA or below)

First place: Philip Leighton, Clear Lake High
Second place: Gabriel Kimbell-Auth, Clear Lake High
Third place: Austin Schmadeke, Kelseyville High Team A

Top scoring alternates

First place: Wroehnyn Milks, Upper Lake High
Second place: Cassidy Holmes, Kelseyville High Team A
Third place: Dakota Durbin, Clear Lake High

SECOND HIGHEST SCORING STUDENTS, PER SCHOOL

Clear Lake High: Philip Leighton
Kelseyville High Team A: Eduardo Alatorre
Lower Lake High: Elijah Andre-Orlando
Upper Lake High School: Savannah Fecht

HIGHEST SCORING STUDENTS, PER SCHOOL

Clear Lake High: Asia Jones
Kelseyville High Team A: Blair Brookes
Lower Lake High: James Hadden
Upper Lake High: Jordin Simons

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.

“Serpentine soil”: when talking about the various habitats under consideration for a National Conservation Area designation in the Berryessa Snow Mountain region, that term comes up a lot.

For most people, though, it’s rather meaningless. Most of us, after all, aren’t geologists or botanists, and if we’ve ever had an encounter with serpentine soil we probably didn’t even realize it.

The truth is, though, if you live in the Coast Ranges of California just about anywhere between Santa Barbara County and the Oregon border (or in the Sierra foothills) you’re living in a region rich in serpentine outcroppings.

So what is serpentine soil?

Simply speaking, if you think of the Earth as an onion made up of several different layers surrounding a molten core, we live on the very outer layer, on top of the soil that is a thin skin on the Earth’s crust and on our layer the soil is for the most part full of nutrients and organic matter which allow a lot of plants and trees to thrive.

Below us is another layer called the mantle. This layer is made of more dense, pressure resistant, 4-billion-year-old “ultramafic” minerals and rocks that are low in plant-nurturing calcium, potassium and other minerals, and high in things like magnesium, nickel and cobalt.

When through tectonic action, veins or plugs or whole sheets of this mantle layer are thrust up to the surface, they come in contact with water, metamorphose and become “serpentinized” (converted into serpentine).

And when these serpentinized outcroppings breakdown and mix with organic matter they form what is called “serpentine soil.”

You’ve probably seen expanses of serpentine soil and didn’t realize it. Like scrubby islands in a sea of green, they look misplaced, almost “unearthly” – barren, rocky, and sparsely vegetated by only occasional large trees and plants with few or very hardy leaves designed to reflect sunlight.  

And you may ask yourself, why should we care about this place? It’s kind of ugly. But what’s really exciting about these serpentine expanses is that within their boundaries you can readily view examples of plant adaptation, natural selection and species differentiation at work.

Many of the plants and trees that can grow in serpentine soil are specialized and unique, not found anywhere else. In fact, about 280 of these serpentine species are listed as “rare” by the California Native Plant Society. Where the serpentine soils are, so are floral treasures not found in any other ecosystem … and they’re here right in your backyard.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, and to celebrate that you might try walking through some of the local wilderness areas, like Cedar Roughs which is rich in serpentine soil and holds the largest stand of Sargent Cypress trees in California.

Other serpentine areas include Walker Ridge, the public lands of the Bureau of Land Management Knoxville Unit – located north of Lake Berryessa, part of which is designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern because of the rich serpentine flora – and throughout the Putah and Cache Creek areas.

The bare monkey flower is an example of a plant species endemic to serpentine. With its “pouty-lipped” yellow flowers and feather-like leaves, it is found only in Lake and Napa counties.

You may also find about 12 different species within the mustard family that grow in serpentine, including the most beautiful jewelflower which grows in both Yolo and Solano counties. The best time to see these specialized plants in bloom are between late February and early June.

So, even though serpentine areas looked “unusable” or “uninhabitable,” they are not. To geologists they offer a unique opportunity to see and analyze rocks and minerals from deep within the earth’s mantle, and for the rest of us they are a cache of wholly unique, highly-adaptable and rare plants just sitting out there waiting for us to view them on hikes and photo-outings.

For more information about serpentine soils, check out “California Serpentines” by Arthur R. Kruckeberg and “An Introduction to the Serpentine Plant Community of the Putah-Cache Bioregion” by author Kelly G. Lyons. There’s also “Serpentine: Evolution and Ecology of a Model System” by Susan Harrison and Nishanta Rajakaruna.

Tuleyome Tales is a monthly publication of Tuleyome, a nonprofit conservation organization based in Woodland, Calif. For more information about Tuleyome visit www.tuleyome.org . Mary K. Hanson is an amateur naturalist and photographer.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Chihuahuas, terriers, shepherds, labs and mastiffs are among the breeds of dog available this week at Lake County Animal Care and Control.

The dogs range in age from 8 months to 10 years, with a variety of coats, sizes and colors.

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”).

'Bandit'

“Bandit” is a 10-year-old male toy terrier mix.

He has a short black and white coat, and has been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 3, ID No. 38876.

Chihuahua mix

This female Chihuahua mix is 4 years old.

She has a short black and tan coat, and weighs 9 pounds. Shelter staff did not report if she had been spayed.

Find her in kennel No. 4, ID No. 38980.

'Han Solo'

“Han Solo” is a 3-year-old male Jack Russell terrier mix.

He has a short black and white coat, weighs 21 pounds and has been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 5, ID No. 38927.

'Hunter'

“Hunter” is a 10-month-old Australian Shepherd-terrier mix.

He has a short brown and white coat, and has been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 38981.

'Max'

“Max” is a a 3-year-old male Chihuahua mix.

He's got a short tan coat and perky ears. Shelter staff did not report if he has been neutered.

Find him in kennel No. 7, ID No. 38940.

Male dachshund mix

This male dachshund mix is 2 years old.

He has a short red coat, weighs 12 pounds and has not yet been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 8, ID No. 38938.

'Frost'

“Frost” is a 2-year-old Labrador Retriever mix.

He's got a short black coat with white markings, weighs 64 pounds and has not been neutered.

Find him in kennel No. 10, ID No. 38690.

Male terrier mix

This male terrier mix is 8 months old.

He has a long white coat, and shelter staff did not report if he had been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 11, ID No. 38966.

Labrador Retriever-pit bull terrier

This female Labrador Retriever-pit bull terrier is 1 year old.

She is pregnant, weighs 50 pounds and has a short gray and white coat.

Find her in kennel No. 16, ID No. 38939.

Female pit bull terrier mix

This female pit bull terrier mix is 11 months old.

She has a short black and white coat, gold eyes, weighs 57 pounds and has not yet been spayed.

She's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 38925.

Male brown brindle

This male terrier mix is 1 year old.

He has a short brown brindle and white coat, and has not yet been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 27, ID No. 38863.

'Joey'

“Joey” is a 3-year-old male mastiff-American Bulldog mix.

He has a short brown brindle and white coat, weighs almost 70 pounds and has been neutered.

Shelter staff said Joey is available for a low adoption fee.

He's very friendly and housebroken, gets along with female dogs but would need to be tested with other males.

Find Joey in kennel No. 29, ID No. 38803.

Pit bull terrier mix

This male pit bull terrier mix is 2 years old.

He has a short black and white coat, weighs 67 pounds and has not yet been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 30, ID No. 38943.

Male shepherd mix

This male shepherd mix is 8 months old.

He has a short black and tan coat, and has not yet been neutered.

Find him in kennel No. 32, ID No. 38962.

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, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.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.