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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Tuesday, Dec. 11, is a special day for those who love mountains.
That’s because Dec. 11 has been designated International Mountain Day.
The day was created by the United Nations in 2003 to promote awareness about the importance of the world’s mountains and highlands.
Mountains are crucial to life, provide most of the world's fresh water, harbor a rich variety of plants and animals, and are home to one in ten people.
Luckily you don’t have to go far to appreciate breathtaking mountains.
Dominating the Lake County skyline and rising to an elevation of 4,300 feet is Mt. Konocti.
The mountain is sacred to the native Pomo, and continues to be admired and treasured by those who today call the county home.
It is so important that the county of Lake purchased 1,520 acres atop the mountain in 2009 in order to create a park.
In neighboring Yolo County there is Berryessa Peak, the highest point of Blue Ridge, a small mountain ridge east of Lake Berryessa.
In September 2008, private landowners established a trail easement that opened up 9,100 acres of public lands and gave public access to the remarkable views and summit of Berryessa Peak.
Then there is Snow Mountain, located in the 37,000 acre Snow Mountain Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest.
The tallest peak, known as Snow Mountain East, is just over 7,000 feet in elevation and is renowned for being the highest point in both Colusa and Lake counties.
The hike to the top of East Peak is a moderate climb, providing stunning views of the Sacramento Valley and the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east, Clear Lake to the southwest and the Mendocino National Forest to the North.
During the winter, the summits of Snow Mountain accumulate a snowpack that can last until June. These snowpacks are an important water source that feed into nearby streams and rivers as they melt.
For more information about the Berryessa Snow Mountain region, visit www.berryessasnowmountain.org .
To learn more about Mt. Konocti and its recreational opportunities, visit http://www.lakecounty.com/AboutLC/Explore/Konocti.htm or http://www.konoctitrails.com/trails-information/mt-konocti-regional-park .
A new report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation documents more than 6,200 hate crimes reported across the United States in 2011.
Hate Crime Statistics, 2011, published by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program, provides data about the offenses, victims, offenders and locations of the bias-motivated incidents reported by law enforcement agencies throughout the nation.
Based on the report, 6,222 criminal incidents involving 7,254 offenses were reported in 2011 as a result of bias toward a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or physical or mental disability.
The report said there were 6,216 single-bias incidents, of which 46.9 percent were motivated by a racial bias, 20.8 percent were motivated by a sexual orientation bias, 19.8 percent were motivated by a religious bias and 11.6 percent were motivated by an ethnicity/national origin bias. Bias against a disability accounted for 0.9 percent of single-bias incidents.
Of the 4,623 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against persons in 2011, intimidation accounted for 45.6 percent, simple assaults for 34.5 percent, and aggravated assaults for 19.4 percent. Four murders and seven forcible rapes were reported as hate crimes.
There were 2,611 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against property. The majority of these (81.4 percent) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism. Robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and other offenses accounted for the remaining 18.6 percent of crimes against property.
Fifty-nine percent of the 5,731 known offenders were white; 20.9 percent were black. The race was unknown for 10.8 percent, and other races accounted for the remaining known offenders.
Most hate crime incidents – 32 percent – occurred in or near homes. Eighteen percent took place on highways, roads, alleys or streets; 9.3 percent happened at schools or colleges; 5.9 percent in parking lots or garages; and 4.4 percent in churches, synagogues, or temples. The location was considered other (undesignated) or unknown for 11.3 percent of hate crime incidents. The remaining 19.1 percent of hate crime incidents took place at other specified or multiple locations.
The FBI said that, beginning in 2013, law enforcement agencies reporting hates crimes will be able to get even more specific when reporting bias motivation.
The new bias categories of gender and gender identity were added to the FBI’s hate crime data collection as a result of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Other bias types were modified to comply with the race and ethnicity designations specified by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Hate crimes continue to be the highest priority of the bureau’s civil rights program because of their heinous nature and their impact on victims and communities.
The FBI said it investigates hate crimes that fall under federal jurisdiction, assist state and local authorities during their own investigations, and in some cases – with the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division – monitor developing situations to determine if federal action is appropriate.
In addition to responding to hate crimes, the FBI also is taking a proactive approach to hate crimes overall, integrating a cadre of analysts with its experienced investigators to not only establish a national threat picture but to identify risk factors that can be used by FBI field offices to assess the potential for hate crimes at the local level.
The agency reported that it is working to increase awareness of these crimes by establishing liaisons with civic and religious leaders and credible community organizations. It also is offering training to help law enforcement recognize hate crimes and assist partners in developing their own hate crimes training programs.
LUCERNE, Calif. – Lucerne residents will have the chance this week to get updates from county officials on the latest projects in the town.
The community town hall meeting will take place beginning at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, located at the corner of 10th Avenue and Country Club Drive.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing will host the meeting.
Topics will include the Lucerne water issue, particularly a proposed 77-percent rate increase proposed by California Water Service Co.
There also will be an update on the Lucerne Hotel, which is to be the home of the third campus for Southern California-based Marymount College.
This fall the county and Marymount signed a 15-year lease agreement for the historic, 1920s-era building.
There also will be a county projects update and an open forum.
Free tables will be set up for local groups, businesses or organizations wishing to distribute literature.
For more information, contact Rushing at 707-263-2368 or
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The county’s animal shelter has several young cats and more mature felines awaiting adoption this week.
All of the handsomely striped felines have had their shots and nearly all have been either spayed or neutered in order to prepare them for new homes.
They also 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”).
Female torbie kitten
This female kitten is 5 months old.
She has a short torbie-colored coat and gold eyes, weighs 3.6 pounds and has been spayed.
Find her in cat room kennel No. 20a, ID No. 34743.
Buff-colored female kitten
This female buff-colored kitten is 5 months old.
She has a long coat, weighs 2.6 pounds and has been spayed.
Find her in cat room kennel No. 20c, ID No. 34792.
Gray tabby kitten
This gray tabby kitten is 5 months old.
He has green eyes, a short coat, weighs 3.6 pounds and has been neutered.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 20d, ID No. 34746.
Male orange tabby
This male orange tabby is 1 year old.
He has a short orange and white coat, green eyes, weighs 5 pounds and has been neutered.
Find him in cat room kennel No. 62, ID No. 34500.
Female gray tabby
This female gray tabby is 8 weeks old.
She has a short coat, green eyes, weighs 2.2 pounds and has been spayed.
She’s in cat room kennel No. 67a, ID No. 34941.
Female domestic short hair mix
This female domestic short hair mix is 2 years old.
She has green eyes and a short gray tabby coat. She has not yet been spayed.
She’s in cat room kennel No. 88, ID No. 34940.
Male gray tabby
This male gray tabby is 1 year old.
He has a short coat and green eyes, and has been neutered.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 100, ID No. 34479.
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
Every year in mid-December, astronomers look up in the sky and witness a mystery.
It announces itself with a flurry of shooting stars. For several nights in a row, dozens to hundreds of meteors per hour cut across the glistening constellations of winter, each one a little puzzle waiting to be solved.
“It’s the Geminid meteor shower – set to peak on Dec. 13 and 14,” said Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “Although the Geminids come every year, we still don’t fully understand them.”
Most meteor showers are caused by icy comets, which spew jets of meteoroids when they are heated by sunlight. The Geminids are different. The parent is not a comet but a weird rocky object named 3200 Phaethon.
When 3200 Phaethon was discovered in 1983 by NASA’s IRAS satellite, astronomers quickly realized that they had found the source of the Geminids.
The orbit of 3200 Phaethon was such a close match to that of the Geminid debris stream, no other conclusion was possible. Yet here was a puzzler: Everything about 3200 Phaethon suggests it is an asteroid.
In fact, 3200 Phaethon resembles main belt asteroid Pallas so much, it could well be a 5-kilometer chip off that 544 km block.
“If 3200 Phaethon broke apart from asteroid Pallas, as some researchers believe, then Geminid meteoroids might be debris from the breakup,” speculated Cooke.
There is, however, another possibility: Perhaps 3200 Phaethon is a “rock comet.”
A “rock comet” is a new kind of object being discussed by some astronomers. It is, essentially, an asteroid that comes very close to the sun – so close that solar heating scorches dusty debris right off its rocky surface.
Rock comets could thus grow comet-like tails made of gravely debris that produce meteor showers on Earth.
Could this be the answer?
To test the idea, researchers turned to NASA’s twin STEREO spacecraft, which are designed to study solar activity.
In June 2009, STEREO watched 3200 Phaethon passing only 15 solar diameters from the sun’s surface. What happened next surprised UCLA planetary scientists David Jewitt and Jing Li, who analyzed the data.
They said 3200 Phaethon unexpectedly brightened by a factor of two. “The most likely explanation is that Phaethon ejected dust, perhaps in response to a break-down of surface rocks (through thermal fracture and decomposition cracking of hydrated minerals) in the intense heat of the Sun.”
So, according to the STEREO observations, 3200 Phaethon does behave like a rock comet.
The “rock comet” hypothesis is compelling, but Jewett and Li point out a problem: The amount of dust 3200 Phaethon ejected during its sun-encounter added a paltry 0.01 percent to the mass of the Geminid debris stream, not enough to keep the debris stream stocked up with meteoroids for the annual display of shooting stars. 3200 Phaethon is not spewing enough dust to account for the Geminids.
Could the rock comet have been more active in the past?
“We just don’t know,” said Cooke.
Forecasters expect Geminid meteor rates to top 100 per hour when the shower peaks on the moonless nights of Dec. 13 and 14. Cooke encouraged sky watchers to go out, look up and savor the mystery.
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Police are investigating a Sunday morning armed robbery at a Clearlake grocery store.
Ray’s Food Place, located at 15930 Dam Road, was the target of the robbery.
Clearlake Police on Sunday afternoon were continuing to work on the case, and were not prepared to release many details.
“There was an incident at Ray’s Food Place and it’s under investigation,” said Det. Tim Alvarado, adding that police would be prepared to release more details on Monday.
Ray’s Food Place Manager Brandi Hammes said the robbery occurred between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Sunday.
A single male suspect, dressed in camouflage and wearing a ski mask, came into the store with a rifle, Hammes said.
“He actually said he wasn't going to kill anybody, he was just hungry and needed money,” said Hammes.
Hammes said the man did get cash, but she could not disclose the amount.
The suspect discharged one round into the store’s ceiling, and when he left the store he shot two of the store’s front windows by the bakery and deli, Hammes said.
“Nobody is hurt, everybody is fine,” she said.
Hammes said they had not received any information on whether or not the suspect had been caught, and police did not report an arrest.
Additional details will be posted as they become available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at