How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
LAKE COUNTY – Many of us might be able to name the president of the Confederacy, but could you name the men in President Abraham Lincoln's cabinet, put Civil War battles in order or answer questions about General Robert E. Lee's battle strategies? {sidebar id=56}
Maybe not, but students from Upper Lake High, Lower Lake High School, Middletown High School and Clear Lake High School got together Saturday to do just that in the Lake County Academic Decathlon, hosted by the Clear Lake High School at the Marge Alakszay Center.
At the end of a day of brain-draining competition, Upper Lake High School's team of decathletes had claimed victory after losing last year to Lower Lake, which ended a long-running winning streak.
Lower Lake High standout Kate Lyons, one of the day's top medal winners with 11 (seven of them gold), competed for the third time Saturday in the Honor division.
“I enjoyed it a lot more this year,” said Lyons, now a senior and in her final year of competition. She said she believed the competition was more fun because of the topic and her familiarity with the competition.
Upper Lake's Robert Pyle was his team's lead medal winner, with 10 medals of which five were golds.
Pyle and his teammates scored 34,939 out of a possible 60,000 points to take the win. Lower Lake High School won silver with a score of 32,205.
With the overall theme of “The Civil War,” Lower Lake High took the gold medal on the Super Quiz competition which is based upon this theme.
Upper Lake Head Coach Christina Moore – assisted this year by teacher Lance Kraft – said the county competition has become increasingly tougher, with all of the schools putting out greater efforts. She recognized Lower Lake High School – last year's county winner – as a particularly strong competitor.
Coming off of Saturday's competition, Lower Lake's coach, Nancy Harby, said, “I just could not be any prouder of my kids.”
Harby echoed Moore's assessment of the high quality of Lake County's academic competition, which she said is a matter of pride for the whole county.
Those skills also have placed well at the state competition, said Harby. She pointed to Upper Lake's 2004 state win in Division 3, and her own team's fifth-place Division 3 last year, following Lower Lake's county win.
“We're right in there with the best of them,” said Harby.
Moore has a class of 15 students who study year-round for the Academic Decathlon competition. They began preparing for the Civil War-themed testing last May, as soon as the topic was announced, using specially prepared study guides and other materials.
Harby, a history teacher who has been coaching the Lower Lake team for eight years, also leads an elective Academic Decathlon preparation class of 12 students. “This is a group of very different kids who come together for this amazing experience.”
Watching the students rise to the competition's rigorous demands is “a wonder to behold,” said Harby.
Both she and Moore say they emphasize expanding their students' study skills in preparation for their college careers.
While it's fun to win, Moore said it's most important to see results like that of one former decathlete, who competed as a C student but who today is enrolled at Chico State, where she's an A student.
“That's why I kept doing it,” Moore said of continuing to coach, despite the fact that she had planned to step down last year.
Harby added that she emphasizes good sportsmanship and the concept of the worthy opponent. It's hard to come in second, she said, but she nevertheless leads her students in giving standing ovations to their opponents when they win. “We know how hard it is to get there.”
Local decathletes make an annual trip to San Joaquin Delta College for the Academic Decathlon Fine Arts Day, as Harby's and Moore's students did last fall. There, they hear lectures about the decathlon topic, see performances of literary pieces that relate to the topic they're studying and hear the Stockton Symphony Orchestra.
Lyons said meeting other teams at events and competitions has been a great experience. “All the kids who are involved tend to be really cool and just really nice people.”
Moore, who has been leading Upper Lake's team for 12 years, also had wanted to take her students to see a Civil War battle reconstruction this year. But the team's members – including athletes and members of student government – “were going in 10 different directions” and couldn't manage the trip.
Upper Lake's team will now move to the state competition, which takes place from March 7 through 10 at California State University, Sacramento.
At the state Academic Decathlon competition, each team member participates in 10 grueling events including mathematics, economics, music, art, language and literature and science.
In addition, the decathletes also will perform prepared and impromptu speeches, write an essay on a given topic and are interviewed by a panel of judges.
The final event, the Super Quiz, an academic relay, will be held at Cal State Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium before a cheering crowd.
Moore said her teaching method is to have students teach each other and learn how to study. She said the students already know the material, so now it's a matter of looking at the topic in new ways so they can compete at the more rigorous state level.
Although Moore is retiring as a teacher, she said on Saturday night the students were trying to talk her into teaching the Academic Decathlon class next year. She said her plans aren't yet firm.
Harby said she has a lot of admiration for Moore and the Upper Lake Academic Decathlon program. “They're just outstanding – great competitors.”
She also thanked Clear Lake's coach, Jim Rogers, for hosting this year's event.
Harby said she'll “absolutely” continue leading the Lower Lake team next year, and will begin working with her students now on the basics – literature, economics, etc. – to prepare.
“It feeds my soul,” she said.
Lake County competition final standings
Individual medals and team titles won at Lake County’s Saturday competition include:
Music
Gold: Robin Grayhorse, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Corey Smith, Upper Lake High School; Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School; Kyle Coleman, Upper Lake High School.
Essay
Gold: Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Kayla Myrick, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Joshua Salazar, Lower Lake High School.
Arts
Gold: Emmalena Illia, Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School; Joe Riggs, Lower Lake High School.
Interview
Gold: Joshua Salazar, Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Aaron Turner, Middletown High School.
Bronze: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Language and Literature
Gold: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School; Robin Grayhorse, Upper Lake High School; Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Kayla Myrick, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Jacob Sanders, Lower Lake High School.
Mathematics
Gold: Joseph Rebolledo, Middletown High School.
Silver: Elise Zolczyski, Middletown High School; Jeremy Hoskins, Middletown High School; Marisa Garcia, Upper Lake High School.
Bronze: Kyle Coleman, Upper Lake High School.
Economics
Gold: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School; Robin Grayhorse, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School.
Bronze: Joe Riggs, Lower Lake High School; William Oertel, Middletown High School.
Science
Gold: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School.
Bronze: Diego Bernardino, Clear Lake High School; Daniella Cazares, Upper Lake High School.
Speech/Impromptu
Gold: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Kayla Myrick, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Kyana Emmott, Clear Lake High School.
Overall Varsity Category
Gold: Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Corey Smith, Upper Lake High School.
Bronze: Aaron Turner, Middletown High School.
Overall Scholastic Category
Gold: Robin Grayhorse, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Joshua Salazar, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Kayla Myrick, Lower Lake High School.
Overall Honor Category
Gold: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Marisa Garcia, Upper Lake High School.
Bronze: Kyle Coleman, Upper Lake High School.
Highest Scorer at Each School
Clear Lake High School: Gold, Garrett Schofield.
Lower Lake High School: Gold, Kate Lyons.
Middletown High School: Gold, Aaron Turner.
Upper Lake High School: Gold, Robert Pyle.
Super Quiz (written and relay portion combined)
Gold: Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Upper Lake High School.
Overall Winning Team
Gold: Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Lower Lake High School.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
The competition took place at Clear Lake High School's Marge Alakszay Center in Lakeport.
Competitors included Middletown High, Clear Lake High, Upper Lake High and Lower Lake High.
Academic Decathletes competed in several categories including English and literature, fine arts, mathematics, physical and biological sciences, and social science.
Upper Lake's team won first place, with Lower Lake High School – last year's winner – placing second, reported Robert Riggs, who attended the Saturday event.
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Dave Geck presided over the Saturday competition, Riggs reported.
The pivotal part of every Academic Decathlon competition is the Super Quiz. This year the Super Quiz focused on the Civil War, with Lake County Board of Education Vice President Dr. Mark Cooper reading the questions.
Lower Lake High won the Super Quiz, but Upper Lake led by enough of a margin to keep its hold on the gold.
In a snapshot of competition winners, Kate Lyons of Lower Lake won the gold medal in the Honors division (3.75 grade point average and above), Robin Grayhorse of Upper Lake won the gold medal in the Scholastic division (3.0 to 3.74 GPA) and Robert Pyle of Upper Lake won the gold medal in the Varsity division (2.99 GPA and below).
Upper Lake's win puts it on course to return to the state Academic Decathlon competition, scheduled for March 7 through 10 in Sacramento. The March competition will be held at three different venues: California State University, Sacramento; the Hyatt Regency; and Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.
Upper Lake High School had been Lake County's Academic Decathlon juggernaut for eight straight years until the 2007 win by Lower Lake High.
In 2004 Upper Lake High won the state Academic Decathlon Division 3 championship.
Team rosters for Saturday included:
Upper Lake High School ( Coach, Tina Moore)
Honor – Daniella Cazares, Kyle Coleman and Marisa Garcia;
Scholastic – Robin Grayhorse, Hannah Johnson and Jonathan Philpott;
Varsity – Robert Pyle, Corey Smith and Maria Mendoza;
Alternates – Stephanie Tregea, Belarmino Garcia, Laura Benavides, Lisa Benavides, Chae Carter, Luis Cazares and Thonyoon Chao.
Lower Lake High School (Coach, Nancy Harby)
Honor – Kate Lyons, Daniel Jackson and Emmalena Illia;
Scholastic – Kayla Myrick, Joe Riggs and Joshua Salazar;
Varsity – Chris Ingersoll, Jacob Sanders and Gerald Skinner;
Alternates – Ryan Wilson, Alexandra Huff, Sean Grant and Jeremy Montano.
Clear Lake High School (Coach, Jim Rogers)
Honor – Isabel Gregorio, Diego Bernardino and Matt Stegman;
Scholastic – Kathryn Frazell, Tiffany Frazell and Enrique Villanueva;
Varsity – Zane Butler, Robert Brown and Kyana Emmot;
Alternates – Garrett Schofield, Ally Hauptman and Kassandranne Richards.
Middletown High School (Coaches, Patty Jimenez and Jennifer Pyzer)
Honor – Elise Zolczynski, Joseph Rebolledo and Cynthia Pimentel;
Scholastic – Johnathan Bateman and William Oertel;
Varsity – Jeremy Hoskins, Aaron Turner and Daniel Renninger III.
A full report, with a complete list of winning students and teams, will follow early next week when the results are officially tallied by the Lake County Office of Education.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
‘Un-Mooned’? Is there such a word in our language? Probably not. But in Lake County Skies, the full Moon, visible during the evening of the 20th, will slowly disappear, and then reappear.
That will happen because there is a total eclipse of the Moon that evening. Our star chart shows where this will occur – notice that the Moon will be close to the planet Saturn.
Notice in the animation that the Moon does not completely disappear. When the eclipse is full, you can still see the Moon, although it is much dimmer than normal.
When will this happen? Here’s a diagram from NASA that shows the times when different events during the eclipse will occur.
What causes an eclipse? It happens when the earth is between the sun and moon, and the three objects line up to where the earth’s shadow is cast upon the lunar surface. The following diagram shows this.
If the Moon is completely within the earth’s shadow, it’s a total eclipse. But if it’s in only a portion of the earth’s shadow, it’s a partial eclipse.
An eclipse of the moon happens at least twice a year, but the next total eclipse won’t happen until 2010.
Speaking of the Moon, Native Americans had names for the full Moon in each month to help identify the seasons. Some of these names, from the Algonquin tribes in the eastern US, were: Full Wolf Moon (January), Full Snow Moon (February), Full Worm Moon (March) and Full Pink Moon (April).
Aside from the lunar eclipse being the star of February’s celestial show, the planets Mars and Saturn are visible, as shown on our star chart. The constellation of Leo the Lion is rising in the east, and Ursa Major (the Big Bear), which contains the Big Dipper, is again becoming visible.
For more information about astronomy and local astronomy-related events, visit the Taylor Observatory website at www.taylorobservatory.org.
On Feb. 9, starting at 8 p.m., the observatory will be open to the public. The topic for the evening is “From Stonehenge to Hubble,” a presentation that traces the history of astronomy.
John Zimmerman has been an amateur astronomer for 50 years. He is a member of the Taylor Observatory staff, where, among his many duties, he helps create planetarium shows.
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
Last year the scarcity of rain resulted in Clear Lake not being full for the first time in several years, as Lake County News reported last summer.
A full lake, according to Lake County's Water Resources Division, is 7.56 feet on the Rumsey Gage, the unique measure used for Clear Lake. Zero Rumsey, or the lake's natural low water level, is equal to 1318.257 feet above mean sea level.
Last year, the lake peaked at 6.14 feet Rumsey in March, and its lower levels prevented Yolo County from taking its full, 150,000-acre-foot water allocation from the lake. Instead, it received about 57 percent of that amount, or just over 85,000 acre feet.
But as of Saturday, Clear Lake's condition shows continuing improvement. Rain, snow and runoff has bulked up the lake to 4.92 feet Rumsey, well above its Feb. 2, 2007 measurement of 3.54 feet Rumsey.
Kelsey, Putah and Cache Creeks also continue running at well above average because of the precipitation, according to the US Geological Survey. That will mean good news for area wells.
Elsewhere in the state, California's snowpack – depleted last year – is looking healthy once more.
The California Department of Water Resources conducted its second snow survey of the season on Thursday near Lake Tahoe.
Thursday's snowpack readings showed snowpack water content was about 75 percent better than this time last year, Water Resources reported.
On Friday, electronic snow sensor reports showed that the Northern Sierra has a snowpack at 125 percent of normal, with the Central Sierra and Southern Sierra measuring 106 and 125 percent of normal, respectively.
The state's snowpack on Friday showed an overall average of 118 percent of normal, Water Resources reported, up from the 43 percent of normal on Feb. 1, 2007.
“January is typically the wettest month of the water year, and this month’s storms have been an excellent shot in the arm to the State’s water supply,” said DWR Hydrology Branch Chief Arthur Hinojosa in a statement released by Water Resources.
“January’s precipitation has bolstered the snow pack and made up for a sub par December,” Hinojosa said. “Season to date is just above average and 65 percent of the April 1 average peak.”
The snow measurements help state hydrologists forecast the coming year's water supply.
The next manual survey is scheduled for early March.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
“Driving under the influence (DUI) is a persistent problem,” said CHP Commissioner Mike Brown. “It causes needless and tragic loss of life each year. Prevention is simple, designate a sober driver and arrive alive.”
Last year on Super Bowl Sunday there were 214 alcohol involved collisions statewide. Drinking and driving played a role in the deaths of five people on California roads that same day.
Not only can drinking and driving result in injury and death, it will cause a legal nightmare as well, according to the CHP. On the day of the big game last year, CHP officers arrested 468 people for the driving under the influence.
In an effort to keep impaired drivers off the road, the CHP is encouraging motorists to be part of a team effort by reporting drunk drivers and dialing 911.
When calling, be sure to note the location and direction the suspected drunken driver is traveling. The color, make and model of the car are also helpful, the CHP said.
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
The first meeting was attended by about 50 local citizens.
Many ideas were brainstormed at the first meeting. It was decided by general consensus to begin the focus of energy in five general areas:
• Local resource guide of producers and services;
• Organic community gardens;
• Buyers club as a stepping stone to a retail co-op (co-op literature tells us this can take up to two years to open the doors);
• Organic gardening education opportunities;
• Farmer's market in Clearlake.
All of these are tied to a commitment to support local organic farmers/producers whenever possible and to be available to as many people in community as possible.
The next meeting will be on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. at the Hot Spot Youth Activity Center at 4750 Golf Avenue in Clearlake.
The meeting is open to the public and anyone interested in hearing more about what they are doing or interested in joining this exciting group is welcome to attend.
The agenda will include discussion about a name for the co-operative and developing a vision statement for the co-op.
Also, Allen Markowski will give a brief instructional presentation on navigating Wiki spaces.
For more information check out the Wiki space at clearlakecommunityco-operative.wikispaces.com/ or call Lorna at 274-9254.
{mos_sb_discuss:2}