News

LAKE COUNTY – The planet Mars moves close to the Earth every two years. This is a function of its orbit around the sun.

“Close” is still pretty far away – about 55 million miles! When Mars is close, it provides an interesting object for telescope viewing.

This month, Mars will be close, and can be seen in the area of the sky shown in the December star chart. It will look like a bright star with a reddish hue.

Through a telescope, it is possible to see one of the polar caps and some dark markings on the planet’s surface. Here’s a picture of Mars I took through one of my telescopes when it was close in 2003.

 

 

 

In December, there are some very beautiful constellations overhead.

There is Perseus, the hero in Greek mythology we spoke of last month.  That’s the constellation where comet Holmes appeared. Below Perseus is Taurus the bull. The brightest star in Taurus, Aldebaran, is reddish in color, and is sometimes called the “eye of the bull.”

Between Perseus and Taurus is the Pleiades, a small group of bright stars you can see with the naked eye. The Pleiades is sometimes called the “seven sisters.” An image of the Pleiades is shown below.

 

Finally, below Taurus, rising in the southeast is Orion, one of the most beautiful of all constellations.  Orion was a great hunter in Greek mythology. We’ll talk more about Orion in next month’s column.

For more information about astronomy and local astronomy-related events, visit the Taylor Observatory website at www.taylorobservatory.org.  

On Dec. 15, starting at 8 p.m., the observatory will be open to the public, and Mars will be featured, both in a presentation and in telescope viewing.

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.

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LAKE COUNTY – A workshop on the requirements of the Air Toxic Control Measure for Stationary CI Engines used in agricultural operations and the approach to implement the program in Lake County will be held this month.

The Lake County Air Quality Management District, Lake County Farm Bureau, the Lake County Winegrape Commission and other interested parties will hold the workshop on Dec. 14 at 10 a.m., at the agricultural center conference room.

Tiny particles in diesel engine exhaust have increasingly been regulated by the state as a cancer-causing health risk. The Lake County Air Quality Management District is required to enforce the Air Toxic Control Measures (ATCM) enacted by the CARB for all stationary sources within the Lake County air basin.

CARB recently amended the ATCM to require Stationary Agricultural Compression Ignition Engines (engines using diesel or similar fuel) to be permitted / registered in local air districts statewide. The changes will implement a regulation to control particulate and nitrogen oxide emissions from stationary agricultural diesel engines (not tractors or other motive powered equipment).

All stationary engines larger than 50 horsepower are required to be permitted by the LCAQMD by March 1, 2008. Full compliance with the various emission requirements will be phased in over several years, starting on January 1, 2011, but requirements are already in effect for engines purchased or installed after January 1, 2005.

The requirements will apply to most stationary agricultural diesel engines now in use, although most were previously unregulated. Some engine use may be exempt from the emissions reduction requirements, but still must be permitted by the LCAQMD, and their use reported annually.

Engines that do not meet the new requirements must be upgraded to conform or be replaced with compliant equipment. Upgrade options include replacement with electrical service motor/engines, add-on particulate control devices, newer cleaner diesel engines, or gasoline or propane spark-ignition engines.

The CARB has estimated that 21 to 29 affected engines exist in Lake County. Further constraints may apply if the engine is located within 1,000 feet of a school or hospital.

Currently there are no state regulations that place requirements on agricultural tractors, spray rigs, harvesters, or other mobile farm equipment.

Further information about the new ATCM requirements is available by contacting Barbara Cook of the CARB at (916) 323-0440 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

A fact sheet is available on the Web at www.arb.ca.gov/diesel/ag/inuseag.htm.

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LOWER LAKE – A man who allegedly hit a child with his car and fled the scene was arrested this morning.

The California Highway Patrol arrested Francisco Javier Olivarez-Zuniga, 19, of Clearlake on a felony charge of hit and run causing injury following the Friday morning collision, according to CHP Officer Adam Garcia.

At 7:50 a.m. Friday Olivarez-Zuniga was allegedly driving a 2007 Hyundai at about 10 miles per hour on Lake Street just north of Lower Lake Elementary when a 9-year-old boy entered the roadway from the left shoulder, Garcia reported.

Olivarez-Zuniga allegedly hit the boy with his vehicle and fled the scene, according to Garcia.

The child was taken to Redbud Hospital and treated for minor injuries, Garcia reported.

CHP Officer Steve Curtis, with the help of witness information, found and arrested Olivarez-Zuniga in Clearlake an hour after the collision, according to Garcia.

Olivarez-Zuniga remained in the Lake County Jail on Friday night, held on $10,000 bail.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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LAKE COUNTY – Following a 13-month multi-agency investigation authorities have arrested a man charged with an alleged armed robbery of Middletown's Twin Pine Casino last year.

On Tuesday John Alan Gillies, 43, of Clearlake was arrested for the Nov. 6, 2006 robbery, according to statements issued this week by the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Gambling Control.

The sheriff's office Enforcement and Investigations Divisions conducted the initial investigation into the robbery, which later was turned over to the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Gambling Control, according to the sheriff's statement.

Department of Justice Special Agenty Marty Horan reported that the Bureau of Gambling Control obtained an arrest warrant for Gillies on charges of carjacking/kidnapping, kidnapping and robbery on Tuesday.

“We coordinated with Mr. Gillies to turn himself in to the sheriff's department,” Horan told Lake County News Friday.

A Bureau of Gambling Control agent contacted Gillies via phone, according to Horan, to set up the surrender.

Gillies turned himself in to the sheriff's office on Martin Street at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Horan reported.

Horan reported that the robbery suspect, wearing gloves and a mask, had carjacked an individual at gunpoint in Middletown on Nov. 6, 2006, forcing the victim to drive the vehicle toward Twin Pine Casino. The suspect then ordered the driver out of the vehicle, leaving the person on the side of the road as he drove to the casino.

According to the investigation, the suspect parked the stolen vehicle in the casino parking lot and rushed inside, running up to the cashier cage and demanding money while holding the cashier clerk at gunpoint, Horan reported.

After obtaining the cash, the suspect ran back out to the parking lot, jumped in the stolen vehicle and sped away, according to Horan's report.

While witness interviews provided little information that could tie a specific suspect to the crime, Horan reported that evidence was collected at the scene that eventually would link Gillies to the crime.

Last April, while the investigation was still under way, a Bureau of Gambling Control received information that Gillies was allegedly planning to rob Colusa Casino Resort.

The Bureau of Gambling Control investigated the report and worked with the Colusa County Sheriff's Office to coordinate a traffic stop on Gillies on April 16 as he was allegedly was on his way to rob the Colusa casino, Horan reported.

While searching his vehicle following the stop deputies found evidence including gloves, a mask and a firearm, according to Horan. Deputies subsequently arrested Gillies for attempted robbery, possession of stolen property and felon in possession of a firearm and booked him into the Colusa County Jail.

Following Gillies' April arrest, the Bureau of Gambling Control continued investigating Gillies as a suspect in connection with the Twin Pine robbery last year, according to Horan.

The investigation involved numerous interviews, review of numerous casino video surveillance tapes, and the service of numerous search warrants, Horan reported.

One of the search warrants obtained by the bureau included a saliva sample from Gillies that Horan said investigators submitted to the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Forensic Services for DNA comparison with evidence recovered at the Twin Pine Casino.

In September, according to Horan, investigators received word that the saliva samples matched. That confirmation, in addition to “a mounting list of existing evidence,” led to Gillies' arrest on Tuesday. He was reportedly arraigned on Thursday.

Horan reported that the investigation relied on extensive coordination and cooperation from the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Colusa County Sheriff's Office, Twin Pine Casino (Middletown Tribal Gaming Regulatory Agency), Colusa Casino (Colusa Indian Gaming Commission) and the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Forensic Services.

Gillies remains in custody on $750,000 bail.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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