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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The road to the future for Mark Rawitsch is not yet charted. But the path to his past can be easily traced from the “The House on Lemon Street” in Riverside to the community college on Parallel Drive in Lakeport, where Rawitsch is the retiring dean of instruction.
“The House on Lemon Street” is the title of a book he authored and is a national landmark; the latter a $15 million institution opened in January as the first-ever standalone college campus to grace the Lakeport landscape.
Give Rawitsch credit for his long-enduring tenacity.
He took 35 years to write the book, a story of a Japanese-American family and their house in Riverside.
“I took a break in the middle,” he quipped.
As a member of the original design team he became a leading advocate for what is officially the Mendocino College Lake Center 25 years ago.
In its 15,000 square feet, the college houses 10 classrooms in two buildings and a central administration building.
Its construction was made possible by a bond measure, Measure W, approved by Lake and Mendocino voters in 2006.
Equipped to serve a student body of 700, classes at the campus began in January.
Rawitsch also was a proponent of the construction of a smaller college center in Willits, which is not yet open.
“I really believe in community colleges and the idea of having not just the main campus but campus centers,” he said. “The idea has been to have smaller campuses in rural areas. That meant something to me.”
In exiting something in which he has been so intrinsically involved in building, his parting thoughts are not of a sentimental nature.
“The words I like to use sound like George Bush ... 'mission accomplished,'” he said. “What I wanted to do is build these centers and they're done. But I didn't know it was going to take 25 years. Now it's time for somebody younger to come in and make it work.”
Rawitsch's book, like the family and the house he wrote about, seems destined to be of historic significance. He would like to see it in the classroom.
The first printing – 1,000 hardback copies – were sold out and a second printing in pocketbook form is planned.
“It's been very popular,” Rawitsch said. “It got a nice review from young Japanese-Americans.”
The book traces the Haradas, a Japanese-American family, from the time they came to California and became the first Japanese-Americans to challenge the California Land Act of 1913. The prejudicial legislation forbade Asians from owning property.
“The story begins with the family buying this house and having their neighbors in that neighborhood not liking them,” Rawitsch explained.
“During World War II they were removed from the house and had to go to a camp,” he said.
That was true for more than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry – primarily U.S. citizens – who were incarcerated in 10 internment camps established under the terms of Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in February 1942.
Rawitsch probes deep into the memories of Sumi Harada, a daughter who was born in the U.S. in 1909 and was sent to a camp while in her early 30s.
“There is a whole part about this particular family. When they went to the camp her brother was serving as a medic in the U.S. 442nd Infantry (an all-Japanese regiment) during World War II,” he said. “Sumi's parents were both invalids; they spent all their time in the hospital.”
Sumi Harada returned to the house in Riverside at the end of the war in 1945 and lived there until 2000, Rawitsch said.
He added that he may write a sequel to his book based on the voluminous documents and letters that became a part of an exhibit when the house was designated a California landmark; that was after Sumi Harada donated it to the city of Riverside.
Rawitsich said he wrote the book “because a lot of people think that Japanese-American history began during World War II. I want people to understand that 25 years before World War II there were challenges for them. Anti-alien landmark legislation was passed with the intent to not have them stay in California and that long before Pearl Harbor people thought they shouldn't be here.”
What's next for the effervescent 62-year-old Rawitsch?
“Something,” he replied. “But I'm not sure what it is yet. I've known a few people a little bit older than I am who retired and actually didn't survive.”
Email John Lindblom at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After record-breaking temperatures across Northern California on Saturday, Sunday's weather forecast includes a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms and – more troublesome – the chance for dry lightning strikes which could erupt into wildfires throughout the North State.
The intense early June heat experienced over the past two days throughout Northern California and Lake County, coupled with a low-pressure system approaching the West Coast on Sunday, caused the National Weather Service in Sacramento to issue an urgent fire weather message for the area.
Saturday was as hot as expected. Lake County News readers reported varying temperatures around the county – 113 degrees at Highland Springs, 115 degrees in Clearlake Oaks and Clearlake, 116 degrees in Lakeport, with the highest local temperature reported to be 119 degrees in Middletown.
As this low pressure system moves in to displace the strong high pressure system throughout the day Sunday, forecasters expect the initially dry storms with gusty winds to increase in both moisture and chances for lightning strikes.
According to Western Weather Group Lake County, as the day progresses into evening, the chances for isolated thunderstorms with minimal amounts of rain will increase.
Because of this new low pressure system, daytime cooling will occur by drawing the airflow from offshore to onshore, and bringing with it closer-to-normal temperatures.
Daytime highs are expected to drop well back into the 90s for most areas on Sunday. Overnight lows are forecast to be near 50 degrees with even more cooling and clouds as Monday dawns and the low pressure system moves through, causing daytime highs to dip back into the low 80s.
After Monday, temperatures will warm again slightly, but forecasters predict that it will be mid- to late-June before hot weather above the mid-90s returns.
Email Terre Logsdon at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – When you look up into Lake County's beautiful dark skies this month, be on the lookout for a number of constellations with fascinating roots in ancient mythology.
The June night skies continue to be dominated by Bootes, whom we discussed in last month’s column.
To the east of Bootes is the comparatively faint constellation Hercules. The graphic below shows the outline of the constellation and an image of Hercules.
Hercules is named for the superman of Greek mythology. He was the son of Zeus, king of the Greek gods. He possessed tremendous strength.
In true soap opera fashion, Hercules got into a bit of trouble, and had to redeem himself by performing 12 labors.
One of those tasks was to get rid of Leo the Lion, who was terrorizing the Peloponnesian villages. Recall our reference to Leo in our April column.
In the artist’s rendition in the figure below, he is battling the hydra, another of his labors.
In spite of his strength and accomplishments, the constellation Hercules has no bright stars, and is not easy to locate.
Hercules contains two remarkable telescope objects, M13 and M92. No, these are not named after military hardware. They are designations in the Messier Catalog of Deep Sky Objects.
Messier was a French astronomer who lived in the 1700s. He cataloged more than 100 objects, giving them such imaginative names as M1, M2 and so on.
M13 is known as The Great Cluster in Hercules. A picture of it can be seen below. It contains approximately 1 million stars that are relatively close together. M92 is similar, but smaller.
Through even a small telescope M13 is a beautiful object. It looks like a fuzzy ball, but if you look slightly away from it – an observing technique known as averted vision which make faint objects look brighter – you will see tiny stars around the outer edge.
Immediately to the west of Hercules is Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. In Greek mythology, this represents the crown given to Ariadne, the daughter of the king of Crete, for her wedding.
Finally, if you look to the north of Hercules and Corona Borealis, a large but faint constellation can be visible under dark skies – Draco the Dragon. The word “Draco” means dragon in Latin.
In 3000 BC, Draco held the North Star, which at the time was named Thuban. The location of the North Star changes slowly over time due to a bit of wobble when the Earth rotates on its axis.
Draco represents the 11th labor of Hercules, another beast he had to subdue.
The figure below shows an artist’s rendition of the dragon. Within Draco lies the Cat’s Eye Nebula. A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas. An image from the Hubble Space Telescope is shown alongside the image of Draco.
This concludes our tour of the June night skies, dominated by Hercules, the superman of Greek mythology.
John Zimmerman is a resident of Lake County, Calif., 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. – Looking for a really big dog for outdoor fun? Or a small dog to hang around on the couch?
Lake County Animal Care and Control has a dog to fit your lifestyle.
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”).
Chihuahua mix
This male Chihuahua mix is 10 months old.
He has a short tan coat, weighs 7 pounds and has been neutered.
Find him in kennel No. 18b, ID No. 36420.
Chihuahua mix
This female Chihuahua mix is 10 months old.
She has a short tan coat, weighs 7 pounds and has been spayed.
She’s in kennel No. 18a, ID No. 36421.
Mastiff-hound mix
This mastiff-hound mix is 9 months old.
She has a short brown brindle and black coat, weighs 60 pounds and has been spayed.
She’s in kennel No. 11, ID No. 36411.
Labrador Retriever mix
This male Labrador Retriever mix is 2 years old.
He has a short brown coat and weighs 112 pounds. He has been neutered.
Find him in kennel No. 10, ID No. 36407.
Male boxer mix
This male boxer mix is 2 years old.
He has a short brown brindle and white coat, weighs 47 pounds and has been neutered.
He’s in kennel No. 9, ID No. 36409.
Female pit bull terrier mix
This female pit bull terrier mix is 8 months old.
She weighs nearly 26 pounds, has a short brown and white coat, and has been spayed.
She is currently in foster, ID No. 35880.
Chihuahua-wirehaired terrier
This male Chihuahua-wirehaired terrier is 8 months old.
He weighs nearly 10 pounds, has a long tan coat and has been altered.
He’s currently in foster, ID No. 36211.
Please note: Dogs listed at the county 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
Scientists working with NASA's 230-foot-wide Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., have released a new and improved movie clip of near-Earth asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon.
The 55 individual images used in the movie were generated from data collected at Goldstone on June 1.
The asteroid's satellite, or moon, is approximately 2,000 feet wide, has an elongated appearance, and completes a revolution around its host body about once every 32 hours.
At any point during its orbit, the maximum distance between the primary body and moon is about 4 miles.
Similar to our moon, which always points the same "face" at Earth, the asteroid's satellite appears to always show the same portion of its surface to the primary asteroid. This is called "synchronous rotation."
The radar data indicate the main, or primary body, is approximately 1.9 miles in diameter and has a rotation period of about five hours. This makes 1998 QE2 one of the slowest (with respect to its rotation) and largest binaries that have been observed by planetary radar.
In the near-Earth population, about 16 percent of asteroids that are about 655 feet (200 meters) or larger are binary or triple systems.
Each of the individual images obtained on June 1, 2013, required about five minutes of data collection by the Goldstone radar.
At the time of the observations that day, asteroid 1998 QE2 was about 3.75 million miles from Earth. The resolution is about 125 feet per pixel.
The trajectory of asteroid 1998 QE2 is well understood. The closest approach of the asteroid occurred on May 31 at 1:59 p.m. PDT, when the asteroid got no closer than about 3.6 million miles, or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon.
This was the closest approach the asteroid will make to Earth for at least the next two centuries.
Asteroid 1998 QE2 was discovered on Aug. 19, 1998, by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program near Socorro, N.M.
NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home planet from them. In fact, the United States has the most robust and productive survey and detection program for discovering near-Earth objects. To date, U.S. assets have discovered more than 98 percent of the known Near-Earth Objects.
In 2012, the Near-Earth Object budget was increased from $6 million to $20 million. Literally dozens of people are involved with some aspect of near-Earth object research across NASA and its centers.
Moreover, there are many more people involved in researching and understanding the nature of asteroids and comets, including those objects that come close to Earth, plus those who are trying to find and track them in the first place.
In addition to the resources NASA puts into understanding asteroids, it also partners with other U.S. government agencies, university-based astronomers, and space science institutes across the country that are working to track and better understand these objects, often with grants, interagency transfers and other contracts from NASA.
NASA's Near-Earth Object Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington, manages and funds the search, study, and monitoring of asteroids and comets whose orbits periodically bring them close to Earth. JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Authorities on Saturday were involved in a search for an elderly woman who was reported missing from the Highland Springs area near Kelseyville.
A be on the lookout was issued Saturday evening for the missing 84-year-old woman, who was said to have wandered away from her residence on Highland Springs Road.
According to the California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office, the Lake County Sheriff's Office was overseeing the search.
On Saturday evening, the sheriff's office had not issued any community alerts regarding the missing woman.
The woman was reportedly last seen around 2:30 p.m., according to sources close to the investigation.
Witnesses said they saw Search and Rescue and K-CORPS members out in the Highland Springs area looking for the woman during the late afternoon and into the evening.
The woman is described as having gray hair and blue eyes; is 5 feet, 7 inches tall; weighs 180 pounds; and was last seen wearing a white shirt, dark pants and carrying a large red bag or purse.
Reports from the scene indicated that she may have a history of wandering away.
As of 10:30 p.m., sources close to the search said the woman had not yet been located.
Anyone who sees her should immediately call local law enforcement.
Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.