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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Saturday’s Middletown-Upper Lake varsity football game was postponed early Saturday due to air quality concerns from smoke caused by a fire that had been raging since Friday afternoon near the Mendocino and Lake county line.
The game, pitting the county’s top two teams, was tentatively rescheduled for Monday at 4 p.m. at Upper Lake High.
The Middletown-Upper Lake JV football game and the Cougar Classic cross country meet were also scratched early Saturday due to excessive smoke from the Scotts Fire west of Scotts Valley Road and east of Ukiah, which had consumed 1,600 acres by Saturday morning.
Instead of hosting a football game on Saturday, Upper Lake High School was the site of an evacuation center, where about 15 people who resided too close to the fire for comfort had gathered.
The JV football game and the cross country meet at the high school weren’t immediately rescheduled.
Reagan leads Kelseyville to 43-14 win over John Swett.
Kelseyville High needed a win Friday night against John Swett of Crockett in the worst way. Following a lackluster 52-6 loss to Upper Lake in their season opener last week, the Knights needed to prove to someone, anyone, that they could play football.
And they did.
John Mark Reagan ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns and passed for a third as Kelseyville got its act together and crushed John Swett, 43-14, at Crockett.
The Knights (1-1), who allowed a touchdown on the game-opening kickoff to Upper Lake last week, and then proceeded to lose two fumbles in the first quarter that set up two more Cougar scores, went on a first-quarter blitz of their own Friday. On their third play from scrimmage, Reagan ran 57 yards for a touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead.
Perhaps relishing the feeling of finally owning a lead, Kelseyville tried an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff – and recovered it. Shortly thereafter, Reagan made it 13-0 on a 28-yard run. And the Knights were on their way to a victory that might help them forget their poor showing a week prior.
Reagan ended the night with 215 yards in total offense--101 yards passing (with a touchdown) to go along with his rushing totals.
The Knights pushed their lead to 29-0 by halftime on touchdown runs by Robert McLean and Dasan Vasquez, with Vasquez converting both conversion runs.
Kelseyville added to the lead in the third quarter on Reagan’s 24-yard scoring pass to McLean and closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter on Vasquez’s 4-yard run.
Vasquez finished with 87 yards on 15 carries and McLean had 79 yards on 10 carries.
Zac Cocco stood out on defense with five solo tackles, including a sack, and a fumble recovery.
John Swett fell to 1-2 with the loss.
Arcata rides onside kicks to 44-6 victory at Lower Lake
Arcata, using onside kicks after its touchdowns, defeated Lower Lake 44-6 Friday night at Lower Lake.
Arcata (2-1) broke the game open with a 30-point second quarter, using onside kicks after each touchdown to get the ball back.
Onside kicks are fair game, of course, but are usually used by teams that are trailing in the closing minutes of a game and need to gamble to get the ball back, or for teams who want to surprise an opponent early in a contest.
The Trojans scored their only touchdown in the third quarter when quarterback Richard Tucker hit Thomas Cross on a 15-yard pass.
Lower Lake (0-2) has two more strong opponents coming up--Valley Christian on the Trojans' home field next week, then Middletown the following week.
Other games…
Ukiah High won the anticipated defensive battle with Willits 7-0, Fort Bragg breezed past Elsie Allen 46-6 and St. Helena defeated St. Vincent of Petaluma 44-14 … In games involving NCL II-Bay Football teams, Tomales routed South Fork 54-0 and California School for the Deaf edged surprising Calistoga 35-29.
Email Rich Mellott at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Looking for a special four-legged friend to join your family?
Among the dogs and puppies available for adoption this week at Lake County Animal Care and Control are some with special needs – including a Great Dane named “Lola” and a senior pug with sight issues.
Thanks to Lake County Animal Care and Control’s new veterinary clinic, many of the animals offered for adoption already are spayed or neutered and ready to go home with their new families.
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.
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”).
Shepherd-basset hound mix
This female shepherd-basset hound mix is 3 years old.
She is nearly 38 pounds and has a short black and tan coat. She has been spayed.
She’s in kennel No. 6, ID No. 34156.
‘Girlie’
“Girlie” is a 2-year-old Shih Tzu-Chihuahua mix.
She has a short fawn coat, weighs 12 pounds and is not yet spayed.
She’s in kennel No. 10a, ID No. 34209.
‘Lucy’
This happy girl is named “Lucy.” She is an 8-month-old bluetick coonhound-treeing walker coonhound.
She has a short black and white coat, has a microchip and has not yet been spayed.
Lucy is in kennel No. 11, ID No. 32171.
Pit bull terrier mix
This male pit bull terrier mix is 9 months old.
He weighs 34 pounds, has a short chocolate-colored coat and has not yet been neutered.
Find him in kennel No. 14, ID No. 34092.
Senior pug
This male pug is 10 years old.
He has the common fawn pug coloring, short coat, floppy ears and curly tail. He has been neutered.
Shelter staff said he is blind, but is still very happy and healthy in other respects.
If you have a home that would welcome a new senior friend, visit him in kennel No. 17, ID No. 34233.
Dachshund-Chihuahua mix
This male dachshund-Chihuahua mix is 2 years old.
He has a short black coat and floppy ears.
He’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. 34206.
‘Lola’
“Lola” is a 4-year-old Great Dane mix with special needs.
Shelter staff said she’s a happy, people-friendly dog who, unfortunately, has been moved from home to home, making it hard for her to adjust to new friends.
In addition, she has tested positive for heartworm.
Lola is a big girl, weighing just over 116 pounds, with a short black and white coat. She has been spayed.
She needs a loving home that can accommodate her size, and make sure she has proper medical care and stability.
Find Lola in kennel No. 22, ID No. 34230.
Adoptable dogs also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dogs_and_Puppies.htm or at www.petfinder.com .
Please note: Dogs 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
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Firefighters on Saturday continued to increase containment on a wildland fire complex in northern Mendocino County.
The North Pass Fire is 84-percent contained at 41,983 acres, with firefighters having kept the acreage from increasing for several days.
The complex includes two lightning-caused fires that have been burning along Mendocino Pass Road, northeast of Covelo, since Saturday, Aug. 18.
The fires are expected to be fully contained on Monday, according to the unified command of Cal Fire and the US Forest Service.
A Cal Fire damage assessment team inspected private lands to discover a total of 26 structures destroyed and four damaged.
Cal Fire and the Forest Service had 610 personnel on scene Saturday, with 10 engines, nine fire crews, four helicopters, five bulldozers and 19 water tenders.
Incident command’s latest report said patrol and fire suppression repair are taking place on the south portion of the fire perimeter around private lands. There also is patrol and mop up on the eastern edge of the fire as it smolders near the Middle Fork of the Eel River.
Hand crews are still required to improve and hold fire line in the north and west portion of the fire, officials reported. Crews also are working on Forest Highway 7 repairing fire line that will result in the road staying closed.
Limited evacuations remain in effect for parts of the Bauer subdivision area along Forest Highway 7 as well as Indian Dick Road (Forest Road M-1), with the Covelo Ranger District north of Mendocino Pass Road to the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forest boundaries remaining under a closure order.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
It would seem that Americans are wild for oregano, but it wasn’t always that way.
Sage was once the king of herbs in the U.S. and oregano was virtually unknown here, despite its popularity throughout the world.
However, something happened to change all that.
Soldiers returning home from Italy after World War II brought with them a taste for pizza and other foods seasoned with oregano and use of the herb skyrocketed; in fact, sales of oregano increased by a whopping 5,200 percent between 1948 and 1956.
Known as “joy of the mountains” in Greece, oregano grows wild on hillsides throughout that country, as well as in Spain, Italy and other Mediterranean lands, where it’s an herb of choice.
It’s occasionally confused with marjoram, a related and somewhat similarly flavored herb (though sweeter and milder), and oregano’s “wild marjoram” nickname in some places adds to this befuddlement.
To add a bit more complication, what we know as Mexican oregano is from an entirely different botanical family and is sometimes called Mexican marjoram or Mexican wild sage.
Because its taste is stronger than Mediterranean oregano, substituting one for another in recipes doesn’t always achieve a good result.
Oregano, a member of the mint family, is a perennial herb in its warm native clime, but is planted as an annual in colder regions, as it isn’t a frost hardy shrub.
Sporting edible white, pink or purple blooms, it grows up to 2 feet tall and its small bright green leaves lend pleasant pungency to many savory dishes.
The herb is used in both its fresh and dry forms, and oregano is unique in that it’s one of the few herbs that become more strongly-flavored when dried.
I once purchased a mammoth armful of stalks of fresh oregano at the end of the day at a farmers’ market.
The grower promised it would take almost no effort to dry it, and that proved true enough, though it did take over the whole of my dining room table for the few days I had it spread out there.
Once dried, the leaves were easily removed from the stalks for storage in zipper-sealed bags in my spice cabinet. The whole leaves, which I crushed into all kinds of fare as I was cooking, provided a pleasant “almost fresh” flavor, quite unlike bottled dried oregano.
Part of the flavor composition of warm, aromatic oregano is a slightly bitter taste, which varies depending upon variety and growing conditions. While I haven’t experienced this, I’m told that particularly strong oregano can numb the tongue a bit.
In addition to its beloved place in Italian cooking, oregano is widely used in Palestinian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Syrian, Turkish, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Philippine cuisines.
In Turkey, it flavors meats and, along with paprika, can almost always be found in shakers on tables in kebab restaurants.
If you plan to boil water buffalo at home, take a cue from chefs in the Philippines and add oregano to the pot, both to eliminate unpleasant odors and impart flavor.
To me, oregano means Greek food, as it’s used so frequently there. I’m partial to the flavors of that country, and enjoy adding oregano fresh to Greek salads or to the homemade olive oil-lemon vinaigrette that accompanies them.
Greek oregano, slightly more pungent than oregano from Italy, is used along with olive oil and lemon in sauces for Grecian fish, meat, and casserole dishes.
Oregano’s New World cousin, Mexican oregano, is enjoyed in cuisines throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Oregano is a natural with fava beans, eggplant, sweet peppers, and anything tomato-y, including dishes with tomato-based sauces.
Add a sprig of fresh oregano to olive oil to infuse flavor into it. A squeeze bottle works well for this purpose, and be sure to store the herby oil in the fridge to maintain freshness.
Use oregano with fish, poultry, meats, in egg dishes, with mushrooms, in vegetable soup, and with summer squash.
Throw it fresh on pizza, plop it into lasagna, or sprinkle it over any Italian dish with tomato sauce: pasta, gnocchi, polenta, or eggplant.
Oregano is a wonderful topping for focaccia bread, and slivered onions, garlic or rosemary make good flavor companions for it.
Jazz up a grilled cheese sandwich (open faced or otherwise) by adding sliced tomatoes and fresh oregano to it.
Combine oregano with fresh lemon juice, a bit of olive oil, and some salt and pepper for a simple marinade for chicken before grilling.
Stuff boneless chicken breasts with feta cheese and oregano and bake them, or top them with the mixture after cooking. (If desired, pound them flat and roll with the stuffing inside to make a roulade.)
Create a mouth-watering appetizer by topping feta or goat cheese with fresh oregano and dousing it liberally with a good quality olive oil. (Serve with crackers or slices of good, crusty bread.)
Are you hungry yet?
As popular as it is in cuisine, one of the largest commercial markets for oregano is the perfume industry. Its oil adds a warm, patchouli-like quality to scent mixtures, and blends well with aromas of lavender, rosemary, bergamot, cedar, chamomile and eucalyptus.
Most of the ancient uses of oregano were medicinal, rather than culinary. The ancient Greeks and Romans made poultices of oregano and used them for sores, muscle aches and poisonous insect bites.
Oil of oregano, known for its antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties, is sold for medicinal purposes. Some claim the oil soothes a painful tooth, a remedy once used in the ancient world.
Scientific studies have shown that oregano’s volatile oils are effective against many types of bacteria (Giardia, for example) and are a potent antioxidant.
High in fiber, oregano is also packed full of vitamin K, manganese, iron, calcium, vitamin E, and tryptophan.
As with most herbs, storing them in the fridge while keeping them moist extends their life.
One method is to place the cut stems in a jar of water and surround the top with a plastic bag. Or store them wrapped in a damp paper towel within a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the fridge.
If you’ve got an abundance of oregano in your garden, you’ll be happy to know the herb can be frozen, either whole or chopped, in airtight containers or bags. It’s not necessary to thaw it prior to using.
Like with many other herbs, oregano may be frozen in ice cube trays covered with stock or water for use in cooking.
Today’s recipe is roasted potatoes with garlic, lemon, and oregano, which utilizes both fresh and dried oregano. It’s perfect for our unseasonably chilly weather, or you can keep it in your recipe arsenal for fall and winter cooking.
Bon appétit! Here’s to hoping the “joy of the mountains” brightens your day.
Roasted potatoes with garlic, lemon and oregano
3 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 ½-inch cubes ½ cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-½ teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup beef, chicken, or vegetable stock
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Place the potatoes in a single layer in a 13-x-9-inch baking dish and pour the oil over them. Add the garlic, dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste and toss well to coat with the oil.
Bake the potatoes for 15 minutes. Add the stock, toss and bake for 10 minutes more. Add the lemon juice, toss and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until the potatoes are cooked through. If you like, preheat the broiler and broil the potatoes for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown.
Sprinkle with the fresh oregano and serve at once.
Variation:
Dissolve 1 tablespoon tomato paste in the stock, and reduce the amount of lemon juice to taste. Substitute Aleppo pepper or crushed red pepper flakes for the black pepper.
This recipe makes 4 to 6 servings and is courtesy of www.epicurious.com .
Esther Oertel, a freelance writer, cooking teacher, and speaker, is passionate about local produce and all foods in the vegetable kingdom. She welcomes your questions and comments and may be reached at
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A wildland fire in Colusa County’s Rumsey Canyon area burned more acreage on Saturday as firefighters continued to increase containment.
The 16 Complex, which includes two fires four miles apart off of Highway 16, has burned 17,967 acres, with containment at 71 percent, according to Cal Fire.
On Saturday evening Cal Fire said an evacuation order was lifted for the Cortina Rancheria.
Highway 16 also was reopened on Saturday from Highway 20 to the town of Rumsey after being closed for several days, Cal Fire reported. Motorists were advised to use extra caution and to be alert for fire vehicles and the possibility of debris on the roadway.
Highway 20 remains open to traffic with no restrictions, Cal Fire said.
No structures have been damaged or destroyed, and there have been five injuries, according to the report.
Cal Fire said firing operations continued on Saturday, with firefighters strengthening containment lines, which was aided by favorable weather conditions.
Officials said any additional spread of the fire is expected to be minimal; however, residents and visitors will continue to see smoke for several days as firefighters continue their mop up operations.
Personnel on scene Saturday totaled 1,365, Cal Fire reported, with 82 engines, 48 fire crews, one airtanker, five helicopters, four bulldozers and two water tenders.
Demobilization of some resources has begun, and will increase over the next few days, with personnel and equipment to be sent to other incidents around Northern California, Cal Fire said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
After driving more than a football field’s length since landing, NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity is spending several days preparing for full use of the tools on its arm.
Curiosity extended its robotic arm last Wednesday in the first of six to 10 consecutive days of planned activities to test the 7-foot arm and the tools it manipulates.
“We will be putting the arm through a range of motions and placing it at important ‘teach points’ that were established during Earth testing, such as the positions for putting sample material into the inlet ports for analytical instruments,” said Daniel Limonadi of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., lead systems engineer for Curiosity’s surface sampling and science system. “These activities are important to get a better understanding for how the arm functions after the long cruise to Mars and in the different temperature and gravity of Mars, compared to earlier testing on Earth.”
Since the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft placed Curiosity inside Mars’ Gale Crater on Aug. 5 (Aug. 6 EDT), the rover has driven a total of 358 feet.
The drives have brought it about one-fourth of the way from the landing site, named Bradbury Landing, to a location selected as the mission’s first major science destination, Glenelg.
“We knew at some point we were going to need to stop and take a week or so for these characterization activities,” said Michael Watkins, JPL’s Curiosity mission manager. “For these checkouts, we need to turn to a particular angle in relation to the sun and on flat ground. We could see before the latest drive that this looked like a perfect spot to start these activities.”
The work at the current location will prepare Curiosity and the team for using the arm to place two of the science instruments onto rock and soil targets.
In addition, the activities represent the first steps in preparing to scoop soil, drill into rocks, process collected samples and deliver samples into analytical instruments.
Checkouts will include using the turret’s Mars Hand Lens Imager to observe its calibration target and the Canadian-built Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer to read what chemical elements are present in the instrument’s calibration target.
“We’re still learning how to use the rover. It’s such a complex machine – the learning curve is steep,” said JPL’s Joy Crisp, deputy project scientist for the MSL Project, which built and operates Curiosity.
After the arm characterization activities at the current site, Curiosity will proceed for a few weeks eastward toward Glenelg. The science team selected that area as likely to offer a good target for Curiosity’s first analysis of powder collected by drilling into a rock.
“We’re getting through a big set of characterization activities that will allow us to give more decision-making authority to the science team,” said Richard Cook, MSL project manager at JPL.
Curiosity is one month into a two-year prime mission on Mars. It will use 10 science instruments to assess whether the selected study area ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. JPL manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
More information about Curiosity is online at www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl .
Follow the mission on Facebook at www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and Twitter at www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .
